Navigating Trump’s Tariff Tests—The Brazil Edition

On July 9, President Donald Trump threw 200 years of diplomatic relations with Brazil for a loop. Latin America’s largest economy got hit with the highest tariff in the region—a whopping 50 percent. But what truly got President Lula’s administration riled up was the U.S. government’s justification for the additional rate.

“Talking with U.S. officials, they insisted that Brazil should give amnesty to the members of the attempted coup of January 8. Nobody told them that even if Congress passes that, it would be unconstitutional,” says Welber Barral, an international trade advisor and former foreign trade secretary.

In this episode, the second part of our two-part kickoff of the Latin America in Focus season, Barral discusses the impact of Bolsonaro’s trial on the bilateral relationship, information gaps impeding progress on trade negotiations, possible paths to reconciliation, and steps Brazil’s government has taken to protect its exporters in the meantime.

Don't forget to listen to part one. In it, Kenneth Smith Ramos, a partner at Agon and Mexico’s former chief USMCA negotiator, analyzes the delicate balancing act that Mexico has to maintain in tariff talks with its most important trading partner as the USMCA review process unfolds.

Listen to Part 1 of this episode, on Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum government's delicate balancing act to protect bilateral trade ties.

This episode was produced by Executive Producer Luisa Leme, along with host and AS/COA Online Editor-in-Chief Carin Zissis, and Associate Producer Khalea Robertson.

Read about the Trump administration policies in the Americas to keep up on trade, migration, security, and more: www.as-coa.org/trump

The music in the podcast is “Me gusta soñar” by the C4 Trio for Americas Society. And if you like the soundtrack of this podcast, find out about upcoming concerts at musicoftheamericas.org

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Access other episodes of Latin America in Focus at www.as-coa.org/podcast and send us feedback at [email protected].

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Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members.

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