President Lula accused the son of current presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro of helping to implement the US tariff proposal.
Published July 6, 2026
Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is asking the Trump administration to delay proposed tariffs on Brazilian goods until after the October election, seeking to refute claims by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that his family helped introduce the tariffs.
The Trump administration surprised Brazil’s government in June by proposing 25% tariffs, citing alleged trade violations such as illegal deforestation and unfair electronic payment practices. Lula said relations had improved after his meeting with President Trump at the White House in May.
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The announcement, which came shortly after Mr Bolsonaro met with US officials in Washington, sparked widespread accusations that Mr Bolsonaro had invited US pressure on Brazil, with Mr Lula accusing the right-wing senator of lobbying Washington for tariffs.
He has since doubled down on those accusations, saying in a social media post last week that “the whole thing was motivated by the Bolsonaro family themselves” and that Bolsonaro’s demand to delay tariffs until after the election was “another act of treason against the homeland.”
President Bolsonaro rejected the claims, insisting that Lula would benefit politically if tariffs were imposed.
“New U.S. tariffs on Brazilian products would be exactly the political victory that the current Brazilian government has been orchestrating,” Bolsonaro said in a filing with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Brazilian officials have spent months trying to persuade the U.S. not to move forward with tariffs. But Bolsonaro says the government has not gone far enough in finding an agreement with the United States and has called for a 180-day delay before a final decision is made.
“Brazil will hold general elections in October 2026, and the political landscape that will determine the viability of negotiated resolutions will be redefined within approximately 90 days,” he wrote.
So far, there is little sign that his efforts will pay off. In a response to a letter sent by President Bolsonaro last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said U.S. officials still have “significant disagreements” with Brazil over the issues he says justify the proposed tariffs.
The controversy has divided Brazilians over who is telling the truth. A poll released last month by Quest found that 47% of Brazilians agreed with Lula’s claim that Bolsonaro encouraged the U.S. to impose tariffs, and 35% agreed that Bolsonaro tried to stop them from imposing tariffs.
The U.S. government has until July 15 to decide whether to impose tariffs, and if approved, beef, coffee, rare earth minerals and aircraft parts would remain exempt. These are on top of the tariffs Trump imposed last year in what he called a “witch hunt” against Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted months later.
With Trump taking a more active role in Latin American politics, Bolsonaro has made relations between Brazil and the United States a central part of his campaign. This includes the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and support for right-wing candidates across the region, including Abelardo de la Espriela, who narrowly won Colombia’s presidential election last month.
