Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jun 2 (EFE).- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva blamed Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) and his main rival in the October election, should the United States follow through on its threat to impose an additional 25% tariff on Brazilian imports, and warned that the South American country will respond in kind.
“The Brazilian government expresses outrage at the preliminary conclusion announced yesterday by the USTR regarding the Section 301 investigation into alleged unfair trade practices by Brazil (…) at the instigation of the Bolsonaro family and is associated with attempts to interfere in our country’s internal affairs, as demonstrated by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro ‘s recent trip to Washington,” read the statement from the Brazilian presidency.
The strongly worded statement was released one day after the Office of the United States Trade Representative recommended that the Trump administration impose additional 25% tariffs on Brazilian exports, and a week after Flavio Bolsonaro met with US President Donald Trump.
The Brazilian government said the measure was unjustified and threatened to respond in kind in case the tariffs came into force.
“As agreed by Presidents Lula and Trump during their meeting in Washington on May 7th, tariff negotiations are underway between the two countries (…) Brazil reserves the right to resort to the instruments provided for in the Reciprocity Law, unanimously approved by the National Congress, to address situations of injustice against the Brazilian State,” the statement published by the Brazilian presidency reads.
The potential new tariffs, which would take effect if the two governments fail to reach an agreement by July 15, were justified by Brazil’s alleged “unfair” policies in areas such as digital trade, intellectual property, illegal deforestation, and access to the ethanol market.
In the statement, the government expressed its “outrage” at the preliminary findings of the investigation the United States launched against Brazil and argued that none of the recommended sanctions are justified.
The statement cites official US statistics showing that the United States has accumulated a 424.5 billion dollar trade surplus with Brazil over the past 15 years.
The government also claimed that 76% of imports from the United States entered Brazil without paying import duties and that the average Brazilian tariff on US products is 3.1%.
According to the statement, the trade war launched in 2025 by the US against Brazil, which has largely been overcome, caused the US share of Brazilian exports to reach its lowest historical level in the first quarter of 2026, at just 9.4%. EFE
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