Brazil’s judiciary has started sweeping crackdowns on speech and political rivals. A U.S. tariff response signals the crisis has gone international.

If implemented, the sanctions against supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes would dramatically escalate a widening feud between the United States and Brazil.

Once called the planet’s most popular politician, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil faced long odds in next year’s election. President Trump’s tariffs are changing that.

Trump last week threatened to hit Brazil with a 50% tariff starting on August 1, citing its treatment of Bolsonaro, the country’s former president. The threat came amid a stream of tariff demand letters the US president has been sending other economies setting new import taxes for next month after a three-month negotiating period.

Kevin Hassett, a top economic advisor to President Trump, was out defending the administration's threat of a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil. The U.S. has a trade surplus with Brazil, in contrast to

The fight is rooted in years of political history between President Trump and the last two presidents of Brazil.

Tensions escalate between the US and Brazil as Donald Trump launched a Section 301 trade investigation into Brazil’s alleged unfair practices, just days after announcing a massive 50% tariff on Brazilian goods.