While much of Donald Trump’s trade policy is an indefensible mess, the president’s approach to Brazil stands out as uniquely outrageous. In fact, it’s so outlandish that even some Senate Republicans voted to block the White House’s policy from continuing.
To recap briefly, Trump announced 50% tariffs on Brazil in July, not to address a trade deficit — the U.S. actually has a $7.4 billion trade surplus with Brazil — but because Brazil’s criminal justice system was pursuing a case against former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom Trump likes. The move marked the first time a U.S. administration tried to leverage trade policy to derail a criminal case in a sovereign nation.
When Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, was asked to justify the policy, he struggled mightily. A couple of days later, the president himself was asked a similar question, and he told reporters, “Because I’m able to do it,” which wasn’t exactly persuasive.
Three months later, a bipartisan Senate majority voted to reject the Republican’s gambit. NBC News reported:
Five Senate Republicans joined Democrats on Tuesday night in passing a resolution that would block President Donald Trump’s tariffs on billions of dollars of goods from Brazil. The legislative language blocks Trump’s emergency declaration that imposed tariffs on most Brazilian imports at 50%. The measure passed in a 52-48 vote.
Ordinarily, the leadership of the Senate’s GOP majority controls which bills reach the floor, but in this instance, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia introduced what’s known as a privileged resolution, which the majority leader cannot block and which only requires a simple majority to pass.
It was a success: Every Senate Democrat voted for the measure, and they were joined by five Senate Republicans: Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.








