Trump has sometimes stated with his torrid passion for tariffs. Certainly, he selected “tariffs” as his favorite word, then correcting himself by placing it behind “God” and “love.” In his view, tariffs perform three distinct functions. The 50%-Bolsonaro tariff announced against Brazil fits the third family.
In its left and right versions, economic populism is intended to boost consumption, raise popularity and reap electoral triumphs. In the end, the result is always the explosion of public debt. From the left, case of Brazil, under the “spent is life”, public spending grow beyond the possibilities of increasing tax collection. On the right, Trump’s style, under the motto that “tax reduction is life”, compresses tax revenue to levels lower than budget needs.
The first function of Trump’s tariffs is to compensate for tax reduction. The president imagines to back down the clock of history until the late 19th century, when import rates represented the main source of revenue from the US government. It will not work: Even under suicidal policies of expenditure cuts, the contemporary state needs to raise much more than would provide customs tariffs.
The 1890 tariff law, proposed by William McKinley, a Trump hero, increased the average customs of the US to 50%. The idea was to protect national manufacturing, stimulating the country’s industrial expansion. At the time, it worked – later, the replacement of imports would accelerate the industrialization of Brazil.
The second function of Trump’s tariffs is to cause a US manufacturing rebirth. It is also a reactionary utopia. Currently, large companies are based on internationalized productive chains, taking advantage of the comparative advantages of various national economies. Trump rates tend to inflate the home economy without restoring the devastated manufacturing parks for history.
“America First”-The tariff war is oriented against both opponents and US geopolitical allies. In principle, no one is safe from the sword erected by the White House. However, the third function of tariffs is to punish governments that become targets of Trump’s sacred wrath. Tariff-Bolsonaro belongs to this family of ideological sanctions.
Chattering at will about national sovereignty, but only respects it when it suits it. He has already declared support for foreign candidates, campaigned for Hugo Chavez and recently shown himself in the mansion where he has been arrested house arrest, claiming the former president’s release. It would not have the moral right to demand from Trump respect for Brazilian justice as long as it is overwhelming against Argentine judgments.
But the Babolsonaro tariff is located in a higher interference pavilion in national sovereignty. In fact, it treats Brazil as a dictatorship that employs the judicial system to violate human rights. In front of her, Lula has a duty to curl into the Auriverde flag and face the threat. In addition, it becomes politically benefited from the canine submission of Bolsonaro’s interests that, in view of all, directly contradict the national interest.
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