Brazil Pledges Retaliatory Tariffs If Trump Acts

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday that he will impose retaliatory tariffs on the US if President Trump follows through on a pledge to boost import taxes by 50% over the South American country's criminal trial of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Lula said he will trigger Brazil's reciprocity law approved by Congress earlier this year if negotiations with the US fail, the AP reports. "If he charges 50 (% tariffs) from us, we will charge 50 from them," Lula told TV Record, interview excerpts show. "Respect is good. I like to offer mine and I like to receive it." Lula ordered his diplomats on Thursday to return Trump's letter if it physically arrives at the presidential palace.

Lula's comments raise the risk of a tariffs war erupting between the two countries, similar to what has happened between the US and China. Trump has vowed to respond forcefully if countries seek to punish the US by adding tariffs of their own. The president of Brazil's Senate, Sen. Davi Alcolumbre, and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Hugo Motta, a pair of moderates who have recently been at odds with Lula, agreed that the reciprocity law gives Brazil "the means ... to protect our sovereignty." They issued a statement saying, "We will be ready to act with balance and firmness in defense of our economy, our productive sector, and the protection of Brazilian jobs."

The tariffs letter that Trump sent to Brazil about the trial of Bolsonaro opened a new front in his trade wars, with the US leader directly using import taxes to interfere with another nation's domestic politics, per the AP. Trump is trying to dictate the outcome of the criminal trial of Bolsonaro, an ally who like Trump has been charged with attempting to overturn a presidential election. "There's nothing Lula or Brazil can do about Bolsonaro's trial," said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. "Any change in that would be Brazil's capitulation. Bolsonaro's situation here won't change. How do you negotiate over that?"