Trump wants to resume steel and aluminum tariffs from Brazil and Argentina

US President Donald Trump said on Monday (12/02) he would immediately resume US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina.

“Brazil and Argentina have promoted a strong devaluation of their currencies, which is not good for our farmers. So I will immediately resume tariffs on all steel and aluminum shipped to the US from these countries,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

In addition, he also urged the Federal Reserve to prevent countries from taking economic advantage by devaluing their currencies.

President Jair Bolsonaro said he did not see Trump’s announcement as retaliation and reiterated that if necessary, he would call the US president.

“I’ll talk to him to see if he doesn’t penalize us with the aluminum price surcharge. His claim on his Twitter is the commodity issue, our economy basically comes from commodities, that’s what we have. I hope he understands and does not penalize us in this regard, and I am pretty sure he will attend to us,” Bolsonaro added.

Nevertheless, two sources from the Brazilian government questioned Trump’s argument. “He did a complicated math and an equation that does not check out […] In Brazil, we do not manipulate the exchange rate,” said the first source. “In Brazil, the exchange rate is fluctuating and there is no manipulation as Trump says. But he is very unpredictable and I think elections are dictating decisions there,” said the second source.

When asked about possible retaliation from Brazil to the US, the two sources said it was time to wait and analyze the facts before taking any action.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said it would start negotiations with the US government following Trump’s decision.

Source: Reuters

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