Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that the 50% tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump would trigger the country's economic reciprocity law. That allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended for countries that harm the South American nation's competitiveness.
"Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being taken for granted by anyone," Lula said. In a forceful statement, he defended the country's legal system and said the U.S. has had a trade surplus of more than $410 billion with Brazil over the past 15 years.
Trump cited what he called unfair treatment of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial accused of trying to overturn his 2022 election loss, as he announced the new 50% duties on import goods from the South American nation, showing that personal grudges rather than simply economics are sometimes driving his use of tariffs.