Brazil on Wednesday approached the World Trade Organization (WTO) for relief against a hefty trade tariff imposed by President Donald Trump on more than a third of US-bound exports from the Latin American powerhouse.
The 50-percent tariff on several Brazilian goods went into force Wednesday over what Trump has termed a “witch hunt” against his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro, the former president on trial for plotting a coup.
Sources in the government of incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told AFP Brasilia had filed a request for consultations with the US mission to the WTO — the first formal step in the trade body’s dispute settlement process.
Trump’s latest tariff salvo raised duties on Brazil from 10 percent to 50 percent for key exports including coffee, beef and sugar.
Exempt were nearly 700 other exports including civilian planes, orange juice and pulp, Brazil nuts, and some iron, steel and aluminum products.
Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin previously told journalists the new tariff would apply to about 36 percent of the country’s exports to the United States, equal to trade of about $14.5 billion last year.
Trump’s Brazil tariff is among the highest imposed on US trading partners and was framed in openly political terms, sweeping aside centuries-old trade ties and a surplus Brasilia put at $284 million last year.
In an executive order last week, the Trump administration lashed out at Brazilian officials for “unjustified criminal charges” against Bolsonaro, on trial for allegedly plotting to wrest back power after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula.
Trump’s order also charged that the Lula government’s recent policies and actions threatened the US economy, national security, and foreign policy.
US tensions with Brazil are not likely to dissipate soon, with a Brazilian judge on Monday placing Bolsonaro under house arrest pending the outcome of his trial for contravening a social media ban.
The judge, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, presides over Bolsonaro’s trial and was himself hit with financial sanctions this week as Washington claimed he had “taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt.”
Moraes has clashed repeatedly with the far-right in Brazil, and with tech titan Elon Musk over the spread of online misinformation.
Bolsonaro risks decades in prison if found guilty on the coup charges that had allegedly also included discussions to assassinate Lula and other senior officials.
The tariff hike on Brazilian goods came a day before a separate wave of higher duties on dozens of economies ranging from the European Union to Taiwan.
Analysts at Pantheon Macroeconomics estimate the pending increases would boost the average effective tariff rate for US imports to nearly 20 percent.
This marks the highest level since at least the 1930s, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University.
