Brazil's Lula threatens 50% tariff on US goods, vows WTO action

Brazil hits back at Trump tariffs as Lula threatens 50%

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, has threatened to impose a matching 50% tariff on all US imports.

“If he charges us 50 per cent, we’ll charge him 50 per cent,” Lula told local news outlet Record.

Lula also stated that Brazil intends to bring the matter before the World Trade Organization and push for international investigations into Trump’s tariffs, while also seeking to “demand explanations” from the U.S. government regarding its trade actions.

The remarks follow Trump’s announcement of a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian exports, in which he accused the current Brazilian administration of conducting a “witch-hunt” against former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently on trial for attempting to overturn the 2022 election results.

Lula has expressed willingness to pursue diplomacy, telling Record TV: “We’ll first try to negotiate, but if there’s no negotiation, the law of reciprocity will be put into practice.”

He also criticized former President Jair Bolsonaro for fueling narratives of political persecution, highlighting that Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, had taken a leave from Congress partly to lead a campaign supporting his father in the United States.

“The former president should take responsibility, because he is endorsing Trump’s tariffs on Brazil. In fact, it was his son who went there to influence Trump’s thinking,” Lula said.

Bolsonaro, in response, claimed the U.S. decision reflected Brazil’s shift away from freedom. “This would never have happened under my government,” he wrote, while also calling on authorities to take action and restore what he described as “institutional normality.”

(With agency inputs)