US President Donald Trump speaks during a multilateral lunch with visiting African Leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump<\/a> said Wednesday the U.S. will slap a 50% tariff<\/a> on Brazil<\/a>‘s imports, partly in retaliation for the ongoing prosecution of the country’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n Trump said in a letter that the new tariff \u2014 a massive jump from the 10% rate the U.S. imposed on Brazil in early April \u2014 was also spurred by the “very unfair trade relationship” between the two countries.<\/p>\n Trump claimed that Brazil’s trade policies have caused “unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States,” which threaten the U.S. economy and national security.<\/p>\n But the U.S. has a goods trade surplus with Brazil, which totaled $7.4 billion in 2024, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative<\/a>.<\/p>\n The U.S. is also launching an investigation into potential unfair trade practices by Brazil, Trump said in a letter to Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. <\/p>\n