Flavio Bolsonaro tells US officials that new tariffs on Brazil would strengthen President Lula da Silva politically ahead of elections.
WASHINGTON: Brazilian conservative presidential hopeful Flavio Bolsonaro on Tuesday urged the United States against imposing new tariffs on his country, arguing that they would benefit his political rival — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
At a public hearing held by the US Trade Representative’s office in Washington, the eldest son of Brazil’s former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro argued that US leader Donald Trump’s tariffs had not produced their intended results.
“Every additional tariff strengthens the very government it is intended to pressure,” he said.
His testimony came as the USTR recently proposed a new 25 percent tariff on Brazilian goods — with some exemptions — alleging “unreasonable or discriminatory” practices by the Latin American giant.
The Trump administration is expected to make its final decision by July 15 after two days of public hearings, involving dozens of participants including Flavio Bolsonaro.
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump imposed sweeping duties on virtually all trading partners.
A swath of Trump’s global tariffs were struck down by the US Supreme Court in February, although his sector-specific duties on goods like steel and aluminum remain intact.
The Trump administration has since initiated several investigations to impose new tariffs on various economies as he seeks to rebuild his economic agenda.
Flavio Bolsonaro argued Tuesday: “The 2025 data show that these tariffs have not produced the results the United States intended. Instead, they have been politically exploited by Brazil’s current administration.”
He was accompanied by his brother Eduardo, who lives in the United States.
In June, Eduardo Bolsonaro was sentenced in absentia by Brazil’s Supreme Court to four years and two months in prison after he urged US sanctions on his country during his father’s coup trial.
The ex-leader is serving 27 years in prison for plotting a coup in 2022.
On US tariffs, Flavio Bolsonaro said “the very government these measures were meant to pressure has gained strength in the polls.”
He added that Brazil’s trade with China has hit a record $171 billion, significantly above its trade with the United States.
“China has absorbed Brazilian exports that were displaced from the American market by (earlier) tariffs,” he said.
Last year, Trump’s administration hit Brazil with steep tariffs over the coup trial against the now-jailed 71-year-old Bolsonaro.
Many of the duties were lifted after a meeting between Lula and Trump, who have had an up-and-down relationship.
Last week, leftist Lula criticized Flavio Bolsonaro over his efforts to postpone potential US tariff hikes until after the South American country’s elections.
Polls project a tight race between the pair in the October presidential ballot.
