As Brazil Approaches Election Season, Trump Team Plans New Tariffs Citing Unfair Trade Practices

After a series of court losses for prior efforts, the Trump administration is implementing a new approach — one that appears more legally sound — to impose tariffs on nations that have a trade advantage with America.The first target is Brazil. In an order published late Monday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer cited Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to find that certain acts, policies, and practices by the South American country are unfair and restrict American commerce. As a result, all Brazilian imports may now be subject to a 25 percent tariff.“I launched this Section 301 investigation at President Trump’s direction to address longstanding and pervasive U.S. concerns with certain of Brazil’s trade policies and practices,” Mr. Greer said in a press release.Section 301 is a powerful tool allowing investigations of countries for perceived violations of trade agreements. Once launched, an investigation includes meetings with the government in question, evidence gathering, and an attempt to resolve the issue. If that doesn’t end with a satisfactory resolution, Section 301 tariffs can stay in place indefinitely, subject to review every four years. By law, the trade representative’s office must hold a hearing about the new tariffs before they go into effect. The hearing on Brazil will take place on July 6. Written comments are due by July 1 and people who want to speak at the hearing need to register this month. Mr. Greer said he and Mr. Trump have recently had “constructive” meetings with Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his cabinet to resolve the issues that Mr. Greer claims are creating an unfair advantage but substantial differences remain.Mr. Lula, who is facing re-election in October for a fourth term, tried to blame his rival, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for the new tariffs. Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of Mr. Trump who served as president from 2019-2023, is currently in jail after being convicted of plotting a coup following his 2022 defeat. Mr. Trump had levied a 50 percent tariff on Brazil last year as punishment for the prosecution but scaled back tariffs on many goods, including beef and fruits after negotiations with Brazil. The younger Mr. Bolsonaro denies he had anything to do with the new tariff scheme. “I expressly asked President Trump not to tax our companies,” Mr. Bolsonaro said on Tuesday. “We need to sit down seriously at the negotiating table, not with bluster, as Lula does.”Mr. Bolsonaro was referring to a meeting he had last week with Mr. Trump at the White House, which the president confirmed Tuesday in a Truth Social post. “A smart young man who loves his Country, Brazil, very much!” Mr. Trump said in the caption.A divided Supreme Court, in February, struck down Mr. Trump’s first round of global tariffs that he announced as part of his “Liberation Day” executive order. A 6-3 decision found that the president was not justified in using the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to levy the fees. A federal court also blocked implementation of another set of 10 percent tariffs Mr. Trump announced after his first tariff defeat. Those tariffs relied on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Previous use of Section 301 has withstood legal challenges but takes longer to implement and must be implemented on a country-by-country basis. Mr. Greer says about 70 countries are now under Section 301 investigations.“Countries are operating with power. They’re pursuing economic policies for reasons other than economic efficiency, and so they get ahead of us,” Mr. Greer said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday.In answering critics that say the administration has been wildly haphazard about slapping tariffs on imports, Mr. Greer noted big carveouts for products like oil and foods not grown in America.“There’s been more nuance to it than people realize,” Mr. Greer said.

As Brazil Approaches Election Season, Trump Team Plans New Tariffs Citing Unfair Trade Practices

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