On Sunday (13), the Lula (Workers’ Party) government launched an institutional video as part of an advertising campaign in response to Donald Trump’s announcement of a 50% tariff on Brazilian products in the United States starting on August 1st. Under the motto Sovereign Brazil, the 30-second piece was released on social media platforms and will probably be broadcast on radio and TV in the coming days.
Mixing quick scenes that refer to Brazilian people and the agribusiness sector, such as a Black man with a musical instrument called pandeiro, cattle in a pasture, agricultural machinery, a white woman with an apron, soccer and national colors being painted on a face. The video was produced by the Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat (Secom), under the command of Minister Sidôneo Palmeira.
“Don’t dare mess with Brazil, ok?” says a child on a slab, smiling. “Brazil is a sovereign country. A sovereign country is an independent nation that respects its laws. A sovereign country protects its people and its democracy. A sovereign country doesn’t bow its head to other countries,” says the voiceover of the advertisement.
“To be against our sovereignty is to be against Brazil,” says the video, referring – without mentioning names – to the Bolsonaro family, who are presented as the articulators of the U.S. tariff, a blackmail approach to grant amnesty for those involved in the attempted coup in January 2023. “Yes, my friend, we are in charge here,” says another excerpt of the video, ending with “Brazil belongs to Brazilians”.
With the impact the measure may cause to the national economy – exports to the United States represent around 2% of Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – and the incoherence with the nationalist discourse, experts heard by BdF consider that U.S. retaliation may have been a shot in the foot by the country’s extreme right.
The Planalto Palace, which had already been running a communication campaign to tax the super-rich in response to the Congress’ rejection of the proposal to change the rate of the Tax on Financial Operations (IOF, in Portuguese), is gaining more room in the discourse of combating privileges for the sake of tax justice.
The government’s communication strategy
The federal government intends to associate social inequality and disrespect for Brazil’s economic and judicial sovereignty with the image of Donald Trump, the Bolsonaro family and their supporters. The latter includes the São Paulo governor, Tarcio de Freitas (Republicans), a possible presidential candidate in 2026.
At the helm of one of the states whose productive sector will be most impacted by the 50% tariff, Freitas said on social media that “Lula put his ideology above the economy; that’s the result”. The governor also said that “there’s no point hiding behind Bolsonaro. Responsibility lies with those who govern”. Later, however, he decided to soften his tone. Now, he is calling for the tax to be reduced and is talking about “national unity”.
The federal government’s public approach to the issue began to be mapped out last Wednesday (9), shortly after Trump’s announcement. At a ministerial meeting, it was ruled out that the response would be left solely to Itamaraty, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry. Following Secom’s proposal, the response to what was considered an attack on Brazilian institutions would be led by President Lula, without an official pronouncement on TV, but through press interviews.
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