Trump Writes to Brazil's Lula: 50% Tariff on Brazilian Goods From August 1
On July 9, 2025, President Donald Trump released a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announcing a 50% tariff on all Brazilian products sent into the United States starting August 1, separate from all sectoral tariffs. Brazil is a major U.S. trading partner in South America, and the letter carried the highest rate among the tariff letters Trump sent that week.
The letter attributed the levy in part to what it called Brazil's insidious attacks on free elections and on the fundamental free speech rights of Americans, and it referred directly to the trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, writing that the trial should not be taking place. Trump also wrote that if Brazil raised its tariffs in retaliation, the United States would add the same amount on top of the 50%.
The letter also announced that Trump had directed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to initiate a Section 301 investigation into Brazil's trade practices, including its treatment of U.S. companies' digital trade.
The same day, Trump sent letters to seven other countries: 20% for the Philippines, 25% for Brunei and Moldova, and 30% for Algeria, Iraq, Libya and Sri Lanka, all effective August 1.
Lula responded that evening that any unilateral measure to raise tariffs would be addressed in light of Brazil's Law of Economic Reciprocity, which allows Brazil to suspend trade, investment and intellectual property arrangements with countries that harm its competitiveness. Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and other officials held an emergency meeting in Brasilia that night.
Related: Trump Signs Executive Order 14326 Further Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates, Effective August 7
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：白宫北立面近景，前景为北草坪喷泉与花坛。2025年7月9日公布的对巴西关税信函出自白宫。AgnosticPreachersKid 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The north facade of the White House, with the North Lawn fountain and flower beds in the foreground. The July 9, 2025 tariff letter to Brazil was released by the White House. Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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