Trump hits Brazil with 50% tariffs and sanctions judge in Bolsonaro case

US officials said on Wednesday that they will sanction Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of authorising “arbitrary pre-trial detentions” and suppressing “freedom of expression”.

Judge Moraes has been leading the investigation into allegations that Brazil’s former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies plotted a coup after he lost the 2022 election.

Bolsonaro has denied those allegations and has called Judge Moraes a “dictator”.

Shortly after the sanctions were announced, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that raised tariffs on Brazil to 50%.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil was willing to negotiate with the US on trade, but called sanctions targeting de Moraes an “unacceptable” interference in the country’s justice system.

He said on X that Brazil had accumulated “a significant trade deficit in goods and services with the United States over the past few decades” and that the measures undermine “national sovereignty and the historical relationship between the two countries”.

Trump had threatened to impose the steep tariffs earlier this month in a letter he shared on social media to Lula.

Brazil has threatened to match any tariff imposed by the US.

Credit: bbc.com

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