Trump slaps 50 percent tariff on Brazil, citing Bolsonaro prosecution
Trump, who has criticized Brazil's treatment of Bolsonaro in recent days, cited the ongoing trial in a letter to current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
'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. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!' Trump wrote.
The president said the U.S. would impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazil, effective Aug. 1, 'due in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.' Trump also cited Brazil's 'Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.'
This week, Trump announced steep tariffs against more than a dozen other nations that will go into effect on Aug. 1, following through on 'reciprocal' tariffs he first announced in April.
The letter to Brazil underscores that Trump is not basing his tariffs against other nations solely on economic policy, but that it may also be influenced by personal animus. Earlier Wednesday, Trump said he was calculating tariff rates based on 'common sense, based on deficits, based on how we've been treated over the years.'
Trump and Bolsonaro have expressed mutual admiration in the past, and Bolsonaro's efforts to remain in power carried echoes of Trump's refusal to concede after losing the 2020 election.
Bolsonaro and dozens of allies were charged in February in connection with a plot to remain in power after the 2022 election. Bolsonaro, who has claimed he is being politically targeted, testified in the trial last month.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Powerful Ecuador drug lord 'Fito' extradited to US
The powerful Ecuadorean gang leader Adolfo Macías Villamar has been extradited to the United States to face charges of drug and arms trafficking. Known as "Fito", he was recaptured in June, almost a year after he escaped from a high-security prison where he was serving a 34-year sentence for a series of crimes. He will appear in a US federal court on Monday, where he will plead not guilty to international charges of drug and weapons trafficking, his lawyer told Reuters. Macías was leader of Los Choneros gang, which is linked to powerful criminal organisations from Mexico and the Balkans. He is also suspected of having ordered the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023. Los Choneros is blamed for Ecuador's transformation from a tourist haven to a country with one of the highest murder rates in the region. More than 70% of all cocaine produced in the world currently passes through Ecuador's ports. The country is located between the world's two top cocaine exporters, Colombia and Peru. In June, police tracked Macías down to what they described as an underground bunker below a luxury home in the city of Manta. He was taken to La Roca, a maximum security prison. At the time, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa praised the security forces for capturing him and said that he would be extradited to the US. The country's prison authority said he was taken out of prison in Ecuador earlier on Sunday to be handed over to US authorities. "Mr Macías and I will appear tomorrow before the Brooklyn federal court ... where he will plead not guilty," his lawyer, Alexei Schacht, told Reuters. "After, he will be held in a to-be-determined prison." Ecuadoreans voted in favor of allowing the extradition of citizens in a referendum called by President Noboa, who vowed to crack down on rising crime. In March this year, Noboa told the BBC he wants US, European and Brazilian armies to join his "war" against criminal gangs. Tracking the world's major cocaine route to Europe - and why it's growing Ecuador chooses president against backdrop of gang violence US and European armies should join our war on gangs, Ecuador president tells BBC
Los Angeles Times
19 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump protesters take part in Indivisible movement rally along PCH in Orange County
Stationing themselves on all four corners of the intersection of Coast Highway and Jamboree Road in Newport Beach early Saturday afternoon, more than 300 people organized by a political action group peacefully demonstrated against the Trump administration. Toting two large flags attached to a metal pole, demonstrator Christopher Holland, who identified himself as a former border patrol agent as well as a Marine Corps veteran, stood atop a large rock in the center of Bayview Park during the protest. 'Kidnapping people while wearing masks compounds the their criminality,' Holland said of the raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who keep their faces covered while carrying out their operations. 'The deliberate concealing of a law enforcement officer's identity is a police state,' he said. He and his wife, Vera, said they attend rallies such as Saturday's for the people who are either unable to be there themselves or are fearful of repercussions. 'This is just disturbing, the lack of due process, the criminality is upsetting to see and trying to re-write history,' Vera Holland, a former insurance investigator, said of the ICE raids that have upended Orange County households and businesses. 'These are all steps toward authoritarianism and fascism.' Those assembled were participating in the PCH Day of Action hosted by Indivisible CA 47, the local chapter of a social movement that aims, according to its website, 'to create a strong community in Orange County, California, where we work together to retain current Democratic representation in Congress, and fight to flip GOP seats from Red to Blue.' Communities that lie within California Congressional District 47, currently represented by Democrat Dave Min, include Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Laguna Beach, parts of Laguna Hills and Laguna Woods. According to Day of Action organizer Laura Oatman, positioning along Pacific Coast Highway provides high visibility and may open the door for those who aren't politically active to get involved and let their voices be heard. 'Driving down PCH they see us and take notice,' said Oatman. 'It gives people hope when they may be feeling drowned out with negative news.' Fountain Valley resident Tonya Crane waved a large flag depicting the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg in one hand while also loudly ringing a brass bell as cars sped through the intersection. 'I came out to the 'No Kings' [rally on June 14] and the feeling of community was so strong I wanted to come out again,' Crane said. ''No Kings' was my first protest ever, and I'm 56 years old.' Newport Beach resident Bill Blanning said he was participating in his fifth rally. 'I'm out here because I believe that Trump is destroying our city, our infrastructure, our values and everything we stand for as a country,' said Blanning, who was waving an American flag to show support for this country. 'We've diminished our standing in the world [and] we've weakened our institutions,' he said. Judy Stephens, who joined other protesters for the Newport Beach demonstration said she has been attending rallies in Irvine, where she lives, on a consistent basis. 'Ever since 9/11, I started paying attention to what's going on in the world,' Stephens said. 'I couldn't not be involved, with the way Trump has been allowed to run amok.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
China Rare-Earth Magnet Exports Jump 158% After Trade Truce
(Bloomberg) -- China boosted shipments of rare earth magnets in June — including to the US — after a global supply squeeze that threatened factory closures and inflamed trade tensions. Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom How San Jose's Mayor Is Working to Build an AI Capital Total cargoes of the magnets rose to 3,188 tons last month, according to Chinese data on Sunday, more than double volumes of 1,238 tons in May in the midst of China's curbs. Flows to the US alone rose to 353 tons, up from just 46 tons. Total shipments were still substantially lower than before Beijing launched export controls in early April. China put restrictions on seven of 17 rare earth elements, which also extended to the powerful magnets used in high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to smartphones and fighter jets. That threatened deep disruptions to US industry and encouraged President Donald Trump to agree a trade truce. After trade negotiators struck an agreement in June in Geneva to ease tensions, Trump said China had agreed to fully supply rare earths and magnets. On July 1, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said shipments of magnets from China had picked up but still weren't flowing fast enough. China's curbs didn't just target the US, with manufacturers worldwide fretting about the magnet shortage, and governments appealing to Beijing for relief. The export controls complicated already fragile ties between China and the European Union, where carmakers are heavily reliant on Chinese magnets. Not Enough The customs data supports anecdotal reports of an improvement in supplies, but also confirms that flows remain well below typical levels. Overall, June's volume was still only about two thirds of last year's monthly average. China makes about 90% of the world's rare earth permanent magnets, and the magnet shock of the last few months has added urgency to efforts by western governments to build supply chains that don't run through China. Earlier this month, the Pentagon agreed to buy a stake in MP Materials Co. — the only American rare earths miner — to fund construction of a major new magnets plant. The EU has seen some small improvements in the issuing of licenses for its magnets supplies since a meeting between the bloc's trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao last month, according to a senior EU official, who declined to be identified discussing a sensitive matter. But 'systemic' issues remain and the subject will be on the agenda of the EU-China summit in Beijing later this week, the person said. China hasn't approved any license for magnet exports to Indian automakers since April, and some 30 applications are pending, Shailesh Chandra, the president of the Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers, said at a press event in Mumbai on Tuesday. Supplies to India rose to 172 tons in June, up from 150 tons in May. On the Wire The massive economic stimulus and boost to clean power from a 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion) mega-dam in Tibet has proven alluring enough for Chinese leaders to set aside concerns about potential damage to biodiversity and relations with India. US tariffs — now averaging 40% overall — threaten a heavy blow to China's industry, according to Bloomberg Economics. Chinese authorities vowed 'zero tolerance' for the smuggling of strategic minerals and said it would strengthen law-enforcement to crack down on illegal shipments and the unauthorized transfer of related technology. China's trade with the world is within reasonable bounds and the nation isn't out to dominate global markets, a senior official said, pointing to figures showing domestic consumption is driving economic growth. This Week's Diary (all times Beijing) Monday, July 21 China sets monthly Loan Prime Rates, 09:00 Tuesday, July 22 Nothing major scheduled Wednesday, July 23 Iron ore resource development conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang, day 1 CCTD's weekly online briefing on Chinese coal, 15:00 CSIA's weekly polysilicon price assessment Thursday, July 24 EU-China summit in Beijing China solar association's mid-year conference in Datong, Shanxi, day 1 Iron ore resource development conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang, day 2 CSIA's weekly solar wafer price assessment Friday, July 25 China solar association's mid-year conference in Datong, Shanxi, day 2 Iron ore resource development conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang, day 3 China's weekly iron ore port stockpiles Shanghai exchange weekly commodities inventory, ~15:30 Saturday, July 26 Nothing major scheduled Sunday, July 27 China's industrial profits for June, 09:30 --With assistance from Alisha Sachdev and Alberto Nardelli. (Updates with details from fifth paragraph) A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk What the Tough Job Market for New College Grads Says About the Economy ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
