United States President Donald Trump has continued to publish letters announcing individualised tariff hikes for foreign trading partners.
But on Wednesday, one of those letters was different from the rest.
While most of the letters are virtually identical, denouncing trade relationships that are “far from reciprocal”, Trump’s letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took a decidedly more personal — and more confrontational — approach.
“Due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans”, Trump wrote that he would be charging Brazil an extra 50-percent tax on any goods it exports to the US, separate from existing “sectoral tariffs”.
“Please understand that the 50% number is far less than what is needed to have the Level Playing Field we must have with your Country,” Trump added. “And it is necessary to have this to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime.”
The letter marked the biggest attack yet in Trump’s escalating feud with Lula, as he seeks to pressure Brazil to drop criminal charges against a fellow far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.
Like Trump, Bolsonaro refused to concede his election loss to a left-wing rival. Like Trump, Bolsonaro also raised questions about the accuracy of the results, including by voicing doubts about electronic voting machines.
And like Trump, Bolsonaro has faced legal repercussions, with court cases weighing whether he could be criminally liable for alleged actions he took to overturn his defeat.
In Bolsonaro’s case, the election in question took place in October 2022, against the current president, Lula. The results were narrow, but Lula edged Bolsonaro out in a run-off race, earning 50.9 percent of the vote.
Still, Bolsonaro did not acknowledge his defeat and instead filed a legal complaint to contest the election results.
Meanwhile, his followers attacked police headquarters, blocked highways, and even stormed government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, in an apparent attempt to spark a military backlash against Lula.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, have accused Bolsonaro of conspiring with allies behind the scenes to stage a coup d’etat, one that might have seen Supreme Court justices arrested and a new election called.
According to the indictment, Bolsonaro, as the outgoing president, considered provoking these changes by calling a “state of siege”, which would have empowered the military to take action.
One of the other possibilities reportedly discussed was poisoning Lula.
