Brazil vows to retaliate against 'unjustified' US 25% tariffs on exports
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Brazil vows to retaliate against 'unjustified' US 25% tariffs on exports")
Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Photograph: (X@LulaOficial)
Brazil accused the Trump administration of acting under pressure from former president Jair Bolsonaro's family as it vowed to retaliate against what it called "unjustified" US tariffs on its exports.
Brazil on Thursday (July 16) announced that it will begin formal retaliatory action against the United States after Washington imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Brazilian products. Calling the move "a regrettable milestone" in bilateral ties, Brasília said it would invoke its Reciprocity Law and pursue the matter through the World Trade Organisation.
The Brazilian government said it would "immediately initiate the procedures to activate the instruments provided for in the Reciprocity Law, approved unanimously by the National Congress, and will resume the issue within the framework of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism".
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's office accused the Trump administration of acting under pressure from former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and his family.
The US decision was "part of the plot built with the active collaboration of the Bolsonaro family," whom it characterised as "false patriots who orchestrated and publicly defended actions against our country," it said in a statement.
Brazil also argued that the United States has historically maintained a large trade surplus with the country and therefore had no basis for imposing unilateral tariffs.
"There is no justification for unilateral measures against our country. According to statistics from the U.S. government itself, the United States has accumulated a surplus of $424.5 billion in goods and services with Brazil over the past 15 years," the release read.
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The Lula administration also rejected the legitimacy of the US investigation, saying the action lacked support under multilateral trade rules. "Brazil does not recognise the legitimacy of investigations without support in the multilateral rules of trade."
The government further dismissed US concerns over Brazil's digital regulations, including the PIX instant payment system, as well as allegations related to environmental policies and deforestation.
"We have demonstrated that the allegations against PIX and the regulation of digital platforms are unfounded, and the accusations regarding deforestation are absurd. PIX is a heritage of our people and an international reference for public digital infrastructure," it said.
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US accuses Brazil of acting in ‘bad faith’
The new tariffs are scheduled to take effect on July 22. Once implemented, Brazil will become the second most heavily tariffed country by Washington after China.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative confirmed the tariffs late on Wednesday, saying the measures were based on what it described as Brazil's "unreasonable acts, policies, and practices" that had "harmed US commerce".
Brazil is the first country targeted under President Donald Trump's new tariff strategy, which uses Section 301 of US trade law to investigate and respond to what Washington considers unfair trade practices.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move and accused Lula's government of failing to negotiate with the United States in good faith.
“Today, President Trump directed USTR to impose a 25 per cent tariff on most Brazilian imports. Let there be no confusion about why: President Lula and his government have not negotiated with the US in good faith,” Rubio said in a post on X.
