United States President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, in protest against what he described as a “Witch Hunt” against former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, on July 9.
President Lula da Silva responded saying Brazil would “try to negotiate” but was not afraid to apply a reciprocal 50% tariff on US goods, adding: “It is not like we cannot survive without the US.”
But Brazilian socialists say this is not enough, and that Lula should go on the offensive over this “new and serious attack on our country” by Trump and his local far-right counterparts.
Backing Bolsonaro
The Socialist Left Movement (MES) is a revolutionary current within the broad anti-capitalist Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), which is to the left of Lula’s governing Workers’ Party
In a July 10 statement, the MES explained that Brazil’s far right was the real “driving force behind this tariff hike”.
It said Trump was clearly acting as an “accomplice” to the local far right, who are “seeking to change Brazil’s political regime through economic blackmail and demanding the Federal Supreme Court (STF) go easy against the coup plotters”.
Bolsonaro, along with 33 of his closest allies, are facing charges related to a January 2023 coup plot, which involved rioters storming the National Congress, the STF and the president’s official residency.
The events have been compared to the pro-Trump January 2020 Capitol Hill riots, as both saw far-right protesters use violence in an attempt to overturn elections that saw their respective candidates defeated.
Fearing a likely guilty verdict, Jair Bolsonaro sent his son and far right-politician, Eduardo Bolsonaro, to the US earlier this year to lobby on his behalf. Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Eduardo Bolsonaro publicly claimed responsibility for the tariffs.
Trump referenced Bolsonaro’s trial in his letter to Lula, calling it an “international disgrace” that “should not be taking place”.
Lula said Trump’s justification was “extremely outrageous”, and that it was unacceptable to demand the end of a trial against someone who “did not just try to stage a coup [but] tried to organise my death”.
Divided right
Trump’s tariff announcement has not pleased everyone on the Brazilian right.
Most of the country’s right-wing newspapers put out editorials against the tariffs, with the virulently anti-Lula newspaper Estadão denouncing Trump as a “troglodyte who could cause immense damage to the Brazilian economy” and even saying “Lula’s initial reaction was correct”.
The Centrão (the Big Centre), a parliamentary bloc composed of opportunistic centre-right and right wing parties known for their clientelistic politics, was also quick to distance itself from the tariffs.
This was particularly significant as just last month, the Centrão and far right parties had blocked in Congress to reject Lula’s financial transaction tax (IOF) presidential decree.
The MES — which described the tax as a “timid measure” in a June 30 statement — said the vote was significant because, by blocking with the far right, the Centrão had not only imposed a defeat on Lula’s government, but demonstrated “an inclination … to move toward a more conservative opposition line against” it, despite still holding positions in Lula’s cabinet.
It is not clear now what the Centrão will do, particularly as even “segments of Brazil’s capitalist class are now criticising Trump’s measures and denouncing Bolsonaro’s stance as yet another act of irresponsibility”, the MES statement noted.
Left offensive
With the far right stepping up its attack, the Centrão in a state of confusion and Lula’s support at a low ebb, the MES believe the government “has no choice but to intensify its discourse around taxing the ultra-rich — a class-based position that, symbolically, is crucial for advancing political consciousness and mass mobilisation”.
“We know who the people’s real enemies are — the same Brazilian far right that opposes taxing the super-rich and now openly supports Trump’s actions … These are the same congresspeople and senators who back Trump and Bolsonaro when they attack Brazil’s economy and defend coup plotters, impunity for criminals and foreign government intervention against our national interests.
“Faced with this direct attack, now is the time for bold action to defend national sovereignty and protect our economy.
“We must impose reciprocal tariffs and trade sanctions against the US in response to the economic aggression coming from the White House. It is also essential to regulate the outflow of profits sent abroad by US multinational corporations operating in Brazil under unfair advantages.
“In addition, we urgently need to review double taxation treaties and legal protections for large foreign investors — tools that for decades have limited the Brazilian state’s ability to regulate and tax international capital flows in the national interest.”
According to the MES, “[I]t is time to punish those who conspire against Brazil ... It is time for a nationwide mobilisation to defend the true interests of the people.”
[An activist from PSOL/MES will be speaking at Ecosocialism 2025 in Naarm/Melbourne, September 5-7. For more information visit ecosocialism.org.au.]