President Trump is back with another unexpected and unspecific tariff announcement.
Trump will restore steel and aluminum tariffs on Brazil and Argentina because the countries "have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies," he said in a Monday tweet. This "is not good for our farmers," Trump said, while also pushing the Federal Reserve to "likewise act" so other countries can "no longer take advantage of our strong dollar."
The unexpected announcement mirrors Trump's previous spur-of-the-moment tariff revelations, seeing as it came with no explanation of when and how the tariffs would roll out. Steel is Brazil's second-largest export to the U.S. after crude oil, with $2.25 billion in steel sent out from January to October this year, Bloomberg notes via Brazilian data.
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Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro declined to comment on the announcement until he talked to his economic minister. But "if needed, I can also talk to Trump, I have an open channel with him," Bolsonaro told reporters Monday morning.
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