The United States has agreed to hold consultations with Brazil at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) following a dispute over steep tariffs recently imposed on Brazilian imports.
According to a document published on the WTO website, Washington introduced a 50 percent tariff on most Brazilian goods earlier this month. US President Donald Trump linked the move to what he described as a “witch hunt” against former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently on trial for allegedly plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election.
In its submission to the WTO on Monday, the US argued that some of Brazil’s claims touched on national security matters, which it said were “political issues not subject to review or resolution by WTO dispute settlement.”
The US further stated that the tariffs were justified because recent Brazilian policies were “undermining the rule of law and threatening the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
Brazil’s request for consultations marks the first formal step in the WTO’s dispute resolution process, setting up a potential test of the organisation’s ability to adjudicate cases in which national security is invoked as a defence.
