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☀ Domingo Brief — Trump Lays Tariffs on Brazil

Each Sunday, take two minutes to catch key stories and opportunities shaping Latin America.

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Latinometrics
July 13, 2025 • Reading Time: 3 minutes

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re keeping up with Bolivia’s controversial lithium contracts, Colombia’s new fast payment system, , and more.

Trivia of the Week 🎯

Each week, tune back in for the answer to the previous week’s trivia question. No cheating!

🇧🇷 U.S. President Donald Trump declared a planned 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports intended to take effect on the 1st of August. In a letter addressed to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, Trump laid bare the politicization around his tariff policy towards Brazil, criticizing former president Jair Bolsonaro’s indictment and impending trial as a “witch hunt” which should cease immediately. Both countries engaged in a trade relationship worth $92B last year, mostly featuring product sales of aircraft, oil, machinery, and iron, with the U.S. enjoying a $7.4B surplus.

Latinometrics: Even by Trump standards, these sweeping tariffs are jaw-dropping. Brazil notably runs a trade deficit with the US, unlike most of the rest of the world, so it managed to avoid the sprawling April tariffs which roiled markets. However, by tying massive 50% tariffs to the Bolsonaro case (which, as part of the judiciary, cannot be determined by Lula anyways), as well as threatening to match any retaliatory tariffs by the Brazilians, Trump is openly demonstrating that he will weaponize trade in order to interfere in other countries’ domestic politics and secure concessions for his political allies. Thus far, the Lula administration has said it will wait and see before retaliating, perhaps taking a page out of the books of Mexico and the European Union.

🇧🇴 Controversial lithium contracts with Chinese and Russian firms triggered a chaotic scene in Bolivia’s congress, culminating in the country’s energy minister being doused with water and pelted with garbage. The contracts, which could bring investments of roughly $2B to Bolivia, would exploit vast lithium reserves considered the largest in the world. Those opposed to the contracts, which include both opposition lawmakers and civic leaders from the mineral-rich Potosí region, claim the deals will not benefit local communities and demand profits for Bolivia be secured before the lithium is sold abroad.

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