Trump sets 50% Brazil tariff for Aug. 1
President Donald Trump has made a major addition to the import tariffs he plans to roll out Friday, Aug. 1, with the levy likely to have a direct impact on U.S. coffee drinkers.
In a letter sent to Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva that was posted on his social network Truth Social, Trump said that beginning Friday, Aug. 1, the United States will impose a 50% tariff on all goods imported from Brazil, separate from any other sectoral tariffs that may apply. Brazil is the largest U.S. supplier of green coffee beans and currently accounts for about a third of the country’s total supply, reported CNBC.
Trump cited several reasons for this decision, including what he said are unfair legal proceedings against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, as well as “secret and unlawful” censorship orders against U.S. social media platforms and unfair trade policies he said Brazil has enacted against the U.S.
A levy higher than 50% will apply to any Brazilian imports which are “transshipped” (sent to the U.S. via a third country to evade the tariff rates).
Trump also said in the letter that if Brazil or companies there decided to manufacture or build product in the U.S., the tariff will not apply. If Brazil raises duties on U.S. imports in response, the same percentage will be added to the 50% rate.
In addition, the letter states that if Brazil eliminates duties on goods from the U.S., Trump could lower tariffs on their imports in return.
Brazil was not included among the countries targeted for reciprocal tariffs initially placed on April 2. Those reciprocal tariffs were initially delayed from going into effect until Wednesday, July 9 and have since been postponed until Friday, Aug. 1.
[READ MORE: Trump pauses most reciprocal tariffs]
In a post on X (the social network formerly known as Twitter), da Silva defended what he termed Brazil’s efforts to prevent inappropriate or illegal content from being disseminated on social media and said Brazil is a sovereign nation that will conduct its own judicial process.
Da Silva also said in the post that Brazil will respond to U.S. tariffs with the country’s law of economic reciprocity, which allows it to restrict or suspend international trade and business agreements in the event of economic actions from other countries.
Earlier this week, Trump placed additional tariffs on imports from countries including Japan and South Korea as part of the delayed tariff initiative.
U.S. tariff policy – a review
On Feb. 13, 2025, President Trump announced a plan to apply reciprocal tariffs on imports that equal any tariffs or other levies put on those products from the U.S. by other countries as of Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025.
That plan, which initially went into effect Saturday, Apr. 5. placed a baseline 10% tariff on all goods being imported to the U.S. from other countries, as well as 25% tariff on all imported automobiles.
The 10% baseline did not apply to Canada and Mexico, which are already paying a 25% levy on products they import to the U.S. On May 12, 2025, Trump reached an agreement with China that removed additional tariffs the U.S. placed on most imported Chinese goods on April 8 and 9, 2025 for 90 days.
Those included a 125% additional levy on imports from China that brought the total tariff on some Chinese products to as high as 145%. Trump previously announced the U.S. and China had reached a preliminary trade agreement and would negotiate a permanent pact before the 90-day pause runs out in August.
Trump also reached an agreement in May with U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer that will increase U.S. access to U.K. markets while limiting tariffs on U.K. imports.
