WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)—US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday implementing an additional 40 per cent tariff on Brazilian products, bringing the total trade duties to 50 percent, the White House announced.

Trump made good on a threat to Latin America’s largest economy, punishing it for what he has termed a “witch hunt” against his far-right ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The Brazilian government’s “politically motivated persecution, intimidation, harassment, censorship, and prosecution of (Bolsonaro) and thousands of his supporters are serious human rights abuses that have undermined the rule of law in Brazil,” the White House said in a fact sheet announcing the move.

It also cited Brazil’s “unusual and extraordinary policies and actions harming U.S. companies, the free speech rights of U.S. persons, U.S. foreign policy, and the U.S. economy,” and singled out Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre Moraes — overseeing the trial against Bolsonaro — by name.

It did not state what date the tariffs would come into effect, but Trump had previously cited August 1.

Brazil has been bracing for a virtual embargo on its planes, grains and crude oil under the move, which brushes aside centuries-old ties and a US trade surplus which Brasilia put at $284 million in 2024.

The political nature of the spat seems to make a last-minute deal less likely. Brazil has insisted the case against Bolsonaro will go ahead unless prosecutors decide otherwise. He is accused of plotting a coup to stay in power after losing the last election.