Zürcher Nachrichten - Why is Trump lashing out at Brazil?

EUR -
AED 4.320459
AFN 80.55459
ALL 97.444284
AMD 449.769792
ANG 2.105467
AOA 1078.79174
ARS 1492.750644
AUD 1.788712
AWG 2.119938
AZN 2.006607
BAM 1.955685
BBD 2.367961
BDT 143.371589
BGN 1.955685
BHD 0.442074
BIF 3495.635509
BMD 1.176436
BND 1.502686
BOB 8.103525
BRL 6.542749
BSD 1.172731
BTN 101.503046
BWP 15.746076
BYN 3.837975
BYR 23058.145349
BZD 2.355762
CAD 1.611488
CDF 3398.723533
CHF 0.935084
CLF 0.028454
CLP 1114.635663
CNY 8.416191
CNH 8.430076
COP 4782.753448
CRC 592.465244
CUC 1.176436
CUP 31.175554
CVE 110.257595
CZK 24.548719
DJF 208.837749
DKK 7.463486
DOP 71.155826
DZD 152.17078
EGP 57.692558
ERN 17.64654
ETB 163.206526
FJD 2.638452
FKP 0.875201
GBP 0.875092
GEL 3.187744
GGP 0.875201
GHS 12.255177
GIP 0.875201
GMD 84.703676
GNF 10177.316462
GTQ 9.001395
GYD 245.365606
HKD 9.234299
HNL 30.709199
HRK 7.534959
HTG 153.898356
HUF 396.229505
IDR 19246.49275
ILS 3.944944
IMP 0.875201
INR 101.764713
IQD 1536.309876
IRR 49542.653233
ISK 142.19611
JEP 0.875201
JMD 187.069026
JOD 0.83409
JPY 173.808984
KES 151.521111
KGS 102.682963
KHR 4697.644562
KMF 492.364993
KPW 1058.792389
KRW 1622.536445
KWD 0.359201
KYD 0.977343
KZT 639.062511
LAK 25281.51692
LBP 105080.035729
LKR 353.849242
LRD 235.136206
LSL 20.814379
LTL 3.47371
LVL 0.711615
LYD 6.330629
MAD 10.546181
MDL 19.725843
MGA 5179.696145
MKD 61.556389
MMK 2469.84847
MNT 4220.772095
MOP 9.482044
MRU 46.805254
MUR 53.422145
MVR 18.108586
MWK 2033.580705
MXN 21.785354
MYR 4.966324
MZN 75.244803
NAD 20.814379
NGN 1796.911458
NIO 43.156735
NOK 11.920896
NPR 162.404473
NZD 1.953219
OMR 0.451863
PAB 1.172731
PEN 4.153756
PGK 4.860674
PHP 67.214474
PKR 332.333304
PLN 4.247523
PYG 8784.484679
QAR 4.274913
RON 5.067968
RSD 117.143128
RUB 93.032285
RWF 1695.200555
SAR 4.413402
SBD 9.746884
SCR 16.619884
SDG 706.442647
SEK 11.175307
SGD 1.506315
SHP 0.924494
SLE 26.999664
SLL 24669.279076
SOS 670.260681
SRD 43.132264
STD 24349.84972
STN 24.498355
SVC 10.261398
SYP 15295.772053
SZL 20.806779
THB 38.104224
TJS 11.199943
TMT 4.12929
TND 3.42377
TOP 2.755329
TRY 47.703773
TTD 7.974532
TWD 34.689541
TZS 3009.457377
UAH 49.036423
UGX 4204.753338
USD 1.176436
UYU 46.976845
UZS 14839.129498
VES 141.493955
VND 30757.918885
VUV 139.522853
WST 3.222244
XAF 655.918522
XAG 0.030822
XAU 0.000353
XCD 3.179377
XCG 2.113576
XDR 0.815752
XOF 655.918522
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.462572
ZAR 20.879972
ZMK 10589.334584
ZMW 27.354395
ZWL 378.811908
  • RBGPF

    -1.1200

    73.88

    -1.52%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    22.89

    +0.17%

  • SCS

    0.0700

    10.58

    +0.66%

  • RELX

    -0.9800

    52.73

    -1.86%

  • NGG

    -0.0800

    72.15

    -0.11%

  • VOD

    -0.0900

    11.43

    -0.79%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0400

    13.2

    -0.3%

  • RIO

    -0.7300

    63.1

    -1.16%

  • CMSC

    0.0550

    22.485

    +0.24%

  • AZN

    -1.0200

    72.66

    -1.4%

  • GSK

    -0.2600

    37.97

    -0.68%

  • BCE

    -0.2300

    24.2

    -0.95%

  • BCC

    1.7100

    88.14

    +1.94%

  • BP

    0.0700

    32.2

    +0.22%

  • BTI

    -0.3700

    52.25

    -0.71%

  • JRI

    -0.0600

    13.09

    -0.46%

Why is Trump lashing out at Brazil?
Why is Trump lashing out at Brazil? / Photo: Miguel SCHINCARIOL - AFP

Why is Trump lashing out at Brazil?

US President Donald Trump has announced a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports as he accused the country's leftist leadership of orchestrating a "witch hunt" against his right-wing ally, former leader Jair Bolsonaro.

Text size:

In a letter Wednesday to counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Trump insisted that Bolsonaro's trial -- for allegedly plotting a coup to hold on to power after 2022 elections he lost -- "should not be taking place."

Trump has historically reserved his tariff ire for countries with which the United States runs a negative trade balance. Brazil is not one.

Analysts say ideological considerations, not economics, are behind the US president's actions in defense of Bolsonaro, dubbed the "Trump of the Tropics."

- Firm friends -

"Brazil came up on Trump's radar now because Bolsonaro's trial is advancing and there are Republican lawmakers who brought the issue to the White House," Leonardo Paz, a political scientist at Brazil's Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president's son and a Brazilian congressman, recently moved to the United States where he lobbies for pressure on Brasilia and the judges presiding over his father's coup trial.

Lula blames Bolsonaro's son for troubling the bilateral waters, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered an investigation into whether the US-based campaign constitutes obstruction of justice.

Moraes is an arch foe of Bolsonaro, who has labeled the justice a "dictator."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke in May of a "great possibility" of sanctions against Moraes, who has clashed repeatedly with rightwingers and former Trump ally Elon Musk in a quest to stamp out online disinformation.

Bolsonaro calls Trump a "friend" and says they are both victims of "persecution."

- 'Non-economic reasons' -

In his missive to Lula, Trump complained of "a very unfair trade relationship" with Brazil.

But official Brazilian figures show a near two-decade sustained surplus in favor of the United States. Last year, it was almost $284 million.

The United States is Brazil's third-largest trading partner after China and the European Union.

It imports mainly crude oil and semi-finished iron and steel products from the South American powerhouse.

Brazil in turn primarily imports non-electric engines and machines, and fuel from up north.

In a sign of Brazilian business jitters, the Sao Paulo Federation of Industries called Thursday for a "calm" response to the "non-economic reasons" for Trump's tariffs.

Lula has said Brazil would be willing to reciprocate, in spite of Trump's warning of further escalation if it did so.

- Free speech tussle -

Trump also complained of Brazilian "attacks" on free speech and "hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL censorship orders to US media platforms" issued by Brazil's Supreme Court.

Last month, the court toughened social media regulation, upping the accountability of platforms for user content in a groundbreaking case for Latin America on the spread of fake news and hate speech.

Last year, Moraes blocked Musk's X platform for 40 days for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation.

He had also ordered the suspension in Brazil of Rumble, a video-sharing platform popular with conservative and far-right voices -- including Trump's son Don Jr. -- over its refusal to block a user accused of spreading disinformation.

Detractors accuse the judge of running a campaign to stifle free speech.

- BRICS brawl -

"It didn't help that the BRICS summit was held in Brazil at a time a narrative exists in the United States portraying the bloc as anti-Western," said Paz.

Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the group on Sunday spoke out against Trump's "indiscriminate" tariff hikes, prompting the president to threaten further trade penalties.

Members China, Russia and India refrained from hitting back, but Lula took it upon himself to defend the "sovereign" nature of BRICS governments, insisting: "We don't want an emperor."

Behind the scenes, Brasilia has been negotiating with Washington for months to try and avoid the worst of Trump's tariff war.

A member of Lula's entourage told AFP that Trump's attack on Brazil was partly inspired by "discomfort caused by the strength of the BRICS," whose members account for about half the world's population and 40 percent of global economic output.

A.Weber--NZN