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Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss reciprocal measures against US tariffs, TASS reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the U.S. would impose a 50% tariff on all imports from Brazil.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired back on Wednesday, saying new tariffs would be met with reciprocal measures, according to Reuters.
In a letter, Trump linked the tariffs to Brazil's treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial over charges of plotting a coup to stop Lula from taking office in 2023, according to Reuters.
The levies were imposed due "in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans," the letter said, according to Reuters.
Lula said Trump's accusations that trade between the two countries was unfair to the U.S. were false, stressing the U.S. runs a trade surplus against Brazil.
The U.S. is Brazil's second-largest trading partner after China and the tariffs are a major increase from the 10% announced in April, according to Reuters. Trump's letter said the 50% tariff will start August 1 and will be separate from all sectoral tariffs.
On Monday, Lula pushed back against Trump after the U.S. leader threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on the BRICS group of developing nations, which he called "anti-American."
"The world has changed. We don't want an emperor," Lula told reporters when asked at a BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro about the possible BRICS tariff, Reuters reported.