Trump Administration Proposes 25% Tariff on Brazil, Lula Blames Flavio Bolsonaro Lobbying

The Trump administration proposed a 25% tariff on imports from Brazil after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened an investigation into “unfair trade practices,” and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he received the decision “with indignation.”

Lula said the tariff proposal came “while we were still in negotiations,” pointing to a 30-day period to iron out trade issues after a three-hour meeting with President Donald Trump that both sides had described as positive.

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Lula also blamed the decision on his October election rival, conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, saying Bolsonaro lobbied Washington to impose tariffs after visiting the White House and meeting Trump and top US officials.

The dispute is scheduled to take effect on July 15 if a bilateral settlement is not reached, and the USTR said its Section 301 investigation found unfair Brazilian policies across six sectors, including digital trade restrictions, illegal timber harvesting and unreciprocated ethanol market access.

In Washington, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he and Trump had “constructive” meetings with Lula and other Brazilian officials, but that “we continue to have substantial differences” on resolving issues identified in the investigation.

Lula escalated the fight by attacking U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a personal obstacle to relations, calling him “anti-Latin America” and “a deadly enemy of Cuba, a deadly enemy of many Latin American countries.”

In Catalão, in the state of Goias, Lula said, “I already told Trump that he does not like Brazil,” and he contrasted Rubio’s role with the absence of Rubio from the meeting he held with Trump.

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The Hindustan Times framed Lula’s remarks by quoting him calling Rubio the “mortal enemy” of some Latin American countries as he reacted to the threat of fresh tariffs.

Brazil’s government said in a statement that its dialogue with American counterparts, which includes “personal involvement of Presidents Lula and Trump,” is being “sabotaged by merely electoral and family matters” of the Bolsonaros.

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro said in an interview he had specifically requested that Trump and Rubio not tax Brazilian companies, but that “they do not trust Lula.”

The USTR’s proposed tariff is tied to a Section 301 process, and a final decision will be taken after a public hearing on July 6, according to the reporting.

“President Lula (PT) criticized on Tuesday (the 2nd) the U”

Folha de S.Paulo

Lula said he threatened to retaliate, and the Globe and Mail reported that he named Rubio as a hurdle to relations with Trump while once again threatening to retaliate.

The U.S. invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to launch the investigation into Brazil’s trade practices, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump overstepped his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose sweeping tariffs.

Brazil said it hopes “the recommendations do not become effective tariffs,” while stressing it “will adopt every measure that is capable of reducing the damage that might be caused to the national economy, to the jobs and the income of Brazilians.”

Lula also pointed to the U.S. trade surplus with Brazil during his early May visit to Washington, and the U.S. Trade Representative published documents showing that last year U.S. exports to Brazil rose nearly, as the Globe and Mail reported.