‘Leave Bolsonaro alone': Trump threatens Brazil unless it drops case against ex-president
He threatened Brazil with a 50% tariff on one of its main steel suppliers.
Brazil is the second-largest exporter of steel to the US after Canada.
Brazil and the United States escalated their row on Wednesday over US President Donald Trump's support for coup-accused ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro, with the American president slapping a 50% tariff on one of its main steel suppliers.
Leftist Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate.
Trump has strongly criticised the prosecution of right-wing ally Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula.
Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington's top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of 'political persecution' - echoing Trump's claims of a 'witch hunt' against the 70-year-old Brazilian firebrand.
Trump then announced he would slap a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports starting on 1 August, citing 'Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections' and warning of escalation if the country retaliates.
READ | 'We are not going to stand for this': Trump demands Israel drops 'witch hunt' case against Netanyahu
In a letter addressed to Lula, Trump criticised the treatment of Bolsonaro as an 'international disgrace' and said the trial 'should not be taking place'.
He added Washington would launch an investigation into Brazil's trade practices.
While Trump has been issuing letters to trading partners - focusing on those with which his country runs a deficit - Brazil had until now not been among those threatened with higher duties come 1 August.
The South American powerhouse is the second-largest exporter of steel to the US after Canada, shipping four million tons of the metal in 2024.
The new 50% tariff was independent of sector-specific levies, with the US recently doubling duties on steel and aluminium imports to 50%.
Lula wrote on X that 'any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity'.
Trade between the two countries reached $41.7 billion between January and June, with $20 billion for exports from Brazil and $21.7 billion for US products, according to Brazilian government data.
On Monday, Trump angered Lula by urging Brazilian authorities to 'LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE', in a post on social media.
They have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year!
Donald Trump
Lula, who narrowly beat Bolsonaro in a divisive election in 2022, hit back at Trump's 'interference', insisting that 'no one is above the law.'
Bolsonaro denies he was involved in an attempt to wrest power back from Lula as part of an alleged coup plot that prosecutors say failed only for a lack of military backing.
After the plot fizzled, rioting supporters known as 'Bolsonaristas' raided government buildings in 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula.
Bolsonaro was abroad at the time.
Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The case against Bolsonaro carries echoes of Trump's prosecution over the 6 January 2021 attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol to try and reverse his election loss.
Trump pleaded not guilty, and the case was abandoned when he was re-elected president.
The cases have drawn the Trump and Bolsonaro families together, with the Brazilian ex-leader's sons lobbying for US sanctions against one of the Supreme Court judges sitting on the ex-president's trial.
In his post on Monday, Trump suggested Bolsonaro was the favourite in presidential elections in 2026, despite him being banned from running for spreading disinformation about Brazil's voting system.
Bolsonaro thanked Trump for his defence of 'peace, justice and liberty' in a social media post.
On Wednesday, the US embassy in Brasilia issued a statement to 'reinforce' Trump's support for the embattled former army captain, who risks a 40-year prison sentence.
'Jair Bolsonaro and his family have been strong partners of the United States,' read the note.
'The political persecution against him, his family, and his followers is shameful and disrespects Brazil's democratic traditions.'
Members of the BRICS grouping, meeting in Brazil under host Lula this week, criticised Trump's imposition of import tariffs and his bombing of Iran.
This drew the US president's ire and a threat of 10% additional tariffs on each BRICS-aligned country.
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