THE GUARDIAN: US president seems to be weaponizing tariffs to punish Brazil for its coup trial against his ally Bolsonaro
Over the past six months, Donald Trump has been accused of rapidly dragging the largest democracy in the Americas towards authoritarianism. Now, the US president seems bent on undermining the region’s second largest democracy too.
Since early July, Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Brazil’s institutions, slapping 50% tariffs on imports from the South American country and sanctions on a supreme court judge – partly in retribution for what he called the political persecution of his ally, Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly masterminding a failed coup.
“Rarely since the end of the cold war has the United States interfered so deeply with a Latin American country,” the Economist declared last week.
“I feel for the Brazilians,” said Steven Levitsky, the Harvard University political scientist who co-wrote How Democracies Die, a bestselling book about democratic erosion.
“This is a very authoritarian political force that’s doing enormous damage to my country’s democratic institutions and rights – and I wish it would stop at that. It’s painful to see the [US] government do damage to other countries’ democratic institutions as well.” » | Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro | Thursday, July 31, 2025
