Brazil’s president says he was surprised by the proposed 25 percent tariffs, which came amid signs of improving relations.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decried newly proposed United States tariffs, saying he could “not accept the treatment” his country had received.
The rebuke on Wednesday came a day after the administration of US President Donald Trump announced the 25 percent tariff on certain Brazilian imports, appearing to roll back an emerging detente between the two countries.
Lula said he had left a May meeting at the White House with Trump optimistic that relations were improving.
During the first year of Trump’s second term, which began on January 20, 2025, the two leaders had butted heads over issues of trade, human rights and politics.
Lula, a longtime left-wing leader, quickly emerged as a key critic of the second Trump administration’s aggressive approach to Latin America, including his January 3 attack on Venezuela and the increasing US military presence in the Caribbean Sea.
Trump, meanwhile, has attacked the Brazilian government for allegedly censoring right-wing voices. The US leader has close connections to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his family, prominent figures in Brazil’s far right.
Last year, after federal prosecutors brought Bolsonaro to trial for attempting to subvert Brazil’s democracy, Trump responded by imposing several rounds of tariffs on Brazil, reaching 50 percent on many goods.
Bolsonaro was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison for efforts to overturn his 2022 election defeat to Lula.
On Wednesday, Lula said he was surprised by the newly proposed tariffs, adding that US-Brazil trade talks were still ongoing. He added that Brazil still wanted to build institutional relations with the US but would seek other trade partners if needed.
Speaking on Tuesday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the latest tariff proposal follows an investigation into alleged unfair trade practices.
The probe focused on issues including illegal deforestation, ethanol market access and anticorruption enforcement, according to a summary. It concluded that the trade practices between the two nations “are unreasonable and burden or restrict US commerce”.
Speaking on CNBC, Greer also pointed to a “giant” trade deficit between the US and Brazil.
However, public data contradicts the claim, instead showing that the US maintains a trade surplus with Brazil.
For example, in March, Brazil bought more goods from the US than it exported, representing a $420m trade surplus.
Experts have said the Trump administration appears to be pursuing a new strategy for tariffs after the US Supreme Court in February struck down the White House’s sweeping global tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The new tariffs are instead imposed under Section 301 of US trade policy. The statute gives the US government broad authority to impose trade sanctions based on alleged violations of trade agreements.
Under the Trade Act of 1974, it also allows for the imposition of penalties for trade practices deemed “unfair”.
The latest round of tariffs against Brazil will be subject to a public comment period, which ends in early July.
Several key Brazilian products are exempt from the new tariffs, including beef, coffee, rare earths, other metals, energy and aircraft parts.
The latest tariff proposal comes as Lula is facing a tight race for re-election in November, against Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.
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