Overview

• An executive order signed July 30 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act adds a 40% levy to the existing 10% duty on Brazilian imports, raising U.S. tariffs to 50% effective August 6.
• The Treasury Department invoked the Magnitsky Act to freeze any U.S. assets of Justice Alexandre de Moraes and bar Americans from transactions with him over allegations of arbitrary detentions, censorship and politicized prosecutions.
• A White House fact sheet accuses Brazil’s judiciary of “politically motivated persecution, intimidation, harassment, censorship and prosecution” of Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters, calling it a threat to U.S. free speech and economic interests.
• President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the U.S. actions as an attack on Brazil’s sovereignty and has mobilized diplomatic negotiations while Finance Minister Fernando Haddad vows to file appeals with U.S. authorities and international bodies if talks falter.
• The tariff order exempts around 700 products—including civil aircraft, orange juice, pulp and certain metals—but still covers key Brazilian exports such as coffee and meat, risking disruption of long-standing trade ties.