Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Wednesday that the South American country might challenge in US courts the steep tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on US imports of Brazilian goods.
“We will go to court if needed,” Haddad told local news outlet UOL, adding that Brazil would not engage in lobbying efforts.
US President Donald Trump slapped 50% tariffs on several Brazilian goods this month, citing what he called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro – who was friendly with Trump when they were both in office and is on trial on charges of plotting a coup – and trade practices that Trump said were unfair.
The US also hit Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre Moraes, who is overseeing Bolsonaro’s trial, with financial sanctions.
Brazil has expressed “indignation” at the tariffs, noting that it has run persistent trade deficits with the United States, and has called the sanctions on Moraes an interference in Brazil’s justice system.
The office of Brazil’s solicitor general later said that it has hired US firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer to act as legal defence for the Brazilian state on the sanctions.
It said the scope of actions for the law firm include the defence against tariffs and financial restrictions targeting Brazil and its public officials. The action strategies should be defined in coming days, it said.
Haddad, in his remarks, noted that world leaders feel insecure about the United States, uncertain about what the future may hold.
He also said that the US dollar remains a reserve currency and will continue to be for many years, unless Washington “keeps making mistakes.”
Haddad cautioned that “weaponising” the dollar would undermine its role, adding that countries cannot be prevented from conducting bilateral trade in local currencies if that lowers transaction costs for them.
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