(MENAFN) U.S. President Donald Trump has officially signed an executive order mandating a 50% tariff on all imports from Brazil, set to begin on August 1. The decision was justified on grounds that Brazil poses a risk to “the national security, foreign policy, and economy” of the United States, according to the order.

The directive, signed on Wednesday, represents a 40% increase over the current tariff level on Brazilian goods. The order accuses Brazil of numerous violations, including alleged “serious human rights abuses that have undermined the rule of law.”

In particular, Trump criticized Brazil’s legal proceedings against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently facing charges related to an alleged coup attempt after losing the 2022 election. “Members of the Government of Brazil are also politically persecuting a former President of Brazil, which is contributing to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Brazil, to politically motivated intimidation in that country, and to human rights abuses,” the order states.

Earlier this month, Trump had revealed plans to implement the sweeping tariff in a letter shared on Truth Social. In that message, he also demanded an end to what he described as a politically driven “witch hunt” targeting the “highly respected” Bolsonaro.

In response to the tariff threat, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged to defend Brazil’s interests. He criticized Trump’s approach, stating, “was elected to govern the US – he was not elected to be the emperor of the world.”

“When I read the letter, I thought it was fake news,” Lula added, calling the communication “breaking away from any protocol, any liturgy, that should exist between the relations between two heads of state.”

Trump had previously warned of a potential 10% tariff on all member countries of the BRICS alliance, accusing them of attempting to “destroy the dollar as the global standard.”

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