If implemented, the sanctions against supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes would dramatically escalate a widening feud between the United States and Brazil.

Trump last week threatened to hit Brazil with a 50% tariff starting on August 1, citing its treatment of Bolsonaro, the country’s former president. The threat came amid a stream of tariff demand letters the US president has been sending other economies setting new import taxes for next month after a three-month negotiating period.

Once called the planet’s most popular politician, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil faced long odds in next year’s election. President Trump’s tariffs are changing that.

President Donald Trump put Brazilian politics front-and-center Wednesday in a letter declaring a new 50% tariff on U.S. imports from the Latin American nation set to begin Aug. 1, citing mistreatment of longtime ally and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

At the time, there were many comparisons to America’s attempted coup. “Brazil Just Had Its January 6,” read the headline of a piece I wrote then. They were inevitable.

The fight is rooted in years of political history between President Trump and the last two presidents of Brazil.

Brazil’s judiciary has started sweeping crackdowns on speech and political rivals. A U.S. tariff response signals the crisis has gone international.

Kevin Hassett, a top economic advisor to President Trump, was out defending the administration's threat of a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil. The U.S. has a trade surplus with Brazil, in contrast to