Trump's letter to Brazil broke from previous warnings, which used boilerplate language haranguing countries for trade deficits
President Donald Trump outside the White House. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump on Wednesday posted another batch of trade letters to foreign governments carrying threats of tariffs by Aug. 1 if they don't negotiate a trade agreement favorable to the U.S. before then. In particular, he threatened Brazil with a steep 50% tariff and cited the country's investigation into its former President Jair Bolsonaro.
It was break from previous letters, which used boilerplate language haranguing countries for trade deficits while swapping out tariff rates and the names of foreign leaders. This time, Trump intervened to aid a foreign conservative ally accused of plotting a coup against the Brazilian government.
"The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace," Trump said in the letter addressed to Brazilian President Lula da Silva. "This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!"
It was the largest import tax rate threatened so far on a significant trading partner. The U.S. imported $42 billion worth of goods from Brazil last year, per the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative. The bulk of it consisted of fuel, machinery, iron and steel.
“Brazil has been not good to us," Trump said during a Wednesday afternoon meeting with African leaders in the White House. In the letter, Trump also accused the Brazilian government of censoring U.S. tech companies.
Other letters sent earlier in the day contained identical language to one another, much like the flurry of missives posted for 14 countries on Monday. They assigned varying tariff rates and left the door open for another round of negotiations with foreign capitals over the next three weeks.
Libya faces a 30% tariff if Trump follows through on his threat. Iraq faces a 30% tariff; the Philippines faces a 25% import tax; and a 30% tariff will be imposed on Algeria. U.S. imports from each of those countries compose less than one percent of total imports. The number of countries now grappling with the August 1 deadline totals 22.
What the targeted countries have in common, though, is the existence of a trade deficit in which they export more goods to the U.S. than they import, long a source of frustration for Trump. In the letters, he calls them an "unsustainable" feature of commerce that threatens the U.S. economy.
Stocks dropped at the start of the week after Trump's initial battery of tariff threats. But financial markets showed signs of rebounding on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had climbed 218 points by market close, while the S&P 500 rose 38 points.
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