Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariff and demands end to Bolsonaro 'witch hunt'
US President Donald Trump has stirred further tensions with Brazil after threatening a plan to impose a 50% tax on goods made in the South American country.
Listen to this article
Mr Trump announced the plan in his latest tariff letter, shared on social media, accusing Brazil of "attacks" on US tech companies.
He also accused the country of conducting a "witch hunt" against former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing prosecution over his role trying to overturn the 2022 election.
Trump had already sparred with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over Bolsonaro's trial earlier this week.
At the time, President Lula said Brazil would not accept "interference" from anyone and added: "No one is above the law."
Read more: Trump threatens Putin he would 'bomb the s*** out of Moscow' in leaked audio
Read more: Trump threatens 'very, very high' tariffs on imported drugs
Unlike many other countries, the US enjoyed a trade surplus with Brazil last year, selling more goods in the country than it purchased from it.
In the letter, Trump called the 50% rate "necessary ... to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime".
Trump has posted 22 letters to countries around the world this week, including trade partners such as Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka, outlining new tariffs on their goods he says will come into force on 1 August.
The moves have largely served to revive plans he had put forward in April but that were put on hold after financial markets recoiled at the measures.
But the message to Brazil was a far more targeted missive and threatened a significant increase from the 10% rate the White House had previously announced.
Mr Trump said he would order the US Trade Representative to launch a so-called 301 investigation into Brazil's digital trade practices.
This would mark a turn to more established legal process that US has used to impose tariffs in the past, toughening the threat.
In his first term, Trump took a similar step over the country's consideration of a tax targeting tech firms.
Trump, in the letter, accused the Brazilian government of "insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans" including the censorship of "US Social Media platforms".
Trump's social media company, Trump Media, is among the US tech companies fighting Brazilian court rulings over orders suspending social media accounts.
The country had also temporarily banned Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, after the platform refused to ban accounts that were deemed by Brazil to be spreading misinformation about the 2022 Brazilian Presidential Election.
Trump and Bolsonaro enjoyed a friendly relationship when their presidencies overlapped, with the pair meeting in 2019 at the White House during Trump's first term.
Last month, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that social media companies can be held responsible for content posted on their platforms.
In the letter, Trump also spoke favourably of former Brazilian president Bolsonaro, saying he "respected him greatly". He added that the ongoing trial against him is "an international disgrace".