Brazil vows to retaliate if US imposes 25% tariffs on some of its products

People hold signs during an August 2025 protest against US tariff policy towards Brazil in São Paulo. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenPeople hold signs during an August 2025 protest against US tariff policy towards Brazil in São Paulo. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty ImagesTrump tariffsBrazil vows to retaliate if US imposes 25% tariffs on some of its productsPresident Lula’s office says US move is result of pressure on White House by family of predecessor Jair Bolsonaro

Brazil has vowed to retaliate against Washington’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on imports of some Brazilian products.

The office of the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, described the tariffs as “a regrettable milestone” in the history of relations between the two countries and said they were the result of pressure exerted on the White House by the family of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The new tariffs are scheduled to take effect on 22 July. Once that happens, Brazil – which has historically run a trade deficit with the US – will become the second most heavily tariffed country by Washington after China.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) confirmed the tariffs, which had first been proposed last month, late on Wednesday, citing what it described as Brazil’s “unreasonable acts, policies, and practices” that had “harmed US commerce”.

Brazil, however, says it repeatedly sought to present data refuting the allegations and sees the decision primarily as political. Politicians from Lula’s party also view it as an attempt by Donald Trump to influence Brazil’s upcoming elections.

Lula, whose relationship with Trump has been marked by ups and downs and is currently at a low point, is seeking re-election in October. His main challenger will be one of Bolsonaro’s sons, the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who was chosen to run after the former president was convicted for attempting to overturn the 2022 election, which he lost to Lula.

View image in fullscreenThe Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his government ‘have not negotiated with the US in good faith’, said Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state. Photograph: André Borges/EPAThe USTR investigation began in July last year. At the time, Trump cited Bolsonaro’s ongoing trial as one of the reasons for launching it, saying it “should not be happening”. “It is a witch-hunt that must end IMMEDIATELY!” the US president wrote.

At the time, another of Bolsonaro’s sons, the then-congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, claimed credit for encouraging Trump – a longstanding ally of his father’s – to take retaliatory measures against Brazil. He was later stripped of his seat after moving to the US, where he remains.

Lula’s office said on Wednesday that the tariffs were the result of “a narrative constructed with the active collaboration of the Bolsonaro family”.

“They are false patriots who plotted and publicly defended actions against our country, driven by electoral objectives,” it said.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who had meetings with Bolsonaro’s sons in Washington, posted that there should be no confusion about why the US had imposed the tariffs.