PIX, corruption, actions against big techs and even deforestation: the Trump administration's arguments for new tariffs against Brazil

Although the tariff is an economic measure, the Trump administration has indicated that the measure is political in nature. This can be seen both in the range of arguments used by the USTR, which not only involve economic factors, but also in an accusation by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, that the Lula government "does not negotiate in good faith". President Lula repudiated the new tariff applied by the USA and stated that he will apply the Reciprocity Law in response. Read here how this law works. Arguments for new pricing Regarding PIX, the USTR stated that the Brazilian central bank "disfavored US electronic payment service providers, while at the same time favoring its national system". Regarding corruption, the USTR claimed that "it is not something new" in Brazil, but the country "has moved further away from global standards related to combating bribery and corruption". The office cited a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from Transparency International, in which the Brazilian public sector would have scored just 35 out of 100 possible points. Regarding actions against big techs, the USTR spoke of "digital commerce" to include such measures in the balance, and recalled restriction orders issued by the STF in recent years against some social networks, such as the Rumble block and a temporary suspension of X. These restrictions were justified by the Brazilian courts because the platforms refused to comply with the country's laws or orders to remove content. Regarding Brazilian tariff policy, the USTR accused Brazil of adopting "unfair and preferential treatment", and published a graph that supposedly showed favoritism to Mexico and India, to the detriment of the USA. Among the criticisms presented are illegal deforestation in the Amazon, court decisions involving American digital platforms, preferential tariffs granted to countries such as Mexico and India, failures to protect intellectual property, difficulties in accessing the Brazilian ethanol market and the functioning of the PIX payment system. In the environmental area, the agency stated that illegal logging in the Amazon contributes to reducing international prices for the product and harms the competitiveness of the American timber industry. The USTR also alleged that some spheres of government in Brazil have reduced incentives aimed at combating deforestation. In relation to digital commerce, Americans criticized decisions by Brazilian courts that ordered the removal of content from platforms such as X, Meta and Google, in addition to the suspension of accounts and the imposition of fines in case of non-compliance with court orders. The American government also claims that Brazil offers preferential tariff treatment to countries such as Mexico and India on hundreds of products, with rates lower than those applied to United States exporters. Another point mentioned was the protection of intellectual property. The USTR recalls that Brazil has remained on the so-called "Watch List" of the Special 301 report since 2007, an annual document that monitors countries considered problematic in the protection of patents, trademarks and copyrights.