American economist Paul Krugman, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, stated that Donald Trump’s 50% tax on Brazilian exports is a reason for considering the impeachment of the US president.
In the text “Trump’s Dictator Protection Program”, published on his blog on Wednesday (9), Krugman said that if the United States ‘still’ had “this Brazil gambit would by itself be grounds for impeachment”.
Hours earlier, Trump had announced in a document published on his social media accounts, addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party), that products imported from Brazil would be subject to 50% tariffs starting in August. In the text, the Republican comes out in defense of former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and criticizes the “way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro”, calling it an “international disgrace”.
Krugman, who called the measure “evil and megalomaniacal”, said that there is no economic justification for the tax and that it is therefore an attempt to punish Brazil for the trial against Bolsonaro.
“Why do I say that it’s megalomaniacal? Brazil has more than 200 million people,” explains the economist. “Those exports to the U.S. are less than 2% of Brazil’s GDP. Does Trump really imagine he can use tariffs to bully a huge nation, which isn’t even very dependent on the U.S. market, into abandoning democracy?” he wrote.
The Nobel Laureate also said that this wouldn’t be the first time the United States used tariff policy for political goals. “On the contrary, the international trading system we set up after World War II was in part motivated by the belief of U.S. officials that trade, in addition to being economically beneficial, was a force for peace and would strengthen democracy around the world. They were probably right and, in any case, it was a noble goal,” affirmed the economist on his blog.
In another excerpt, Krugman calls Bolsonaro a “wannabe dictator”. “Now Trump is trying to use tariffs to help another wannabe dictator. If you still thought America was one of the world’s good guys, this should tell you whose side we’re on these days,” he concluded.
Also on Wednesday (9), President Lula responded to Donald Trump’s announcement. He reinforced his defense of national sovereignty, rejecting any “interference or threat” in the case against Bolsonaro and others accused of a coup d’état, adding that the tariffs will be responded to “in the light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity”.
“Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being tutored by anyone,” says the text posted on the Planalto website and Lula’s social media accounts.
