The US president has pointed to the criminal trial of former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro as the reason for the steep tariff hike.
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”.
