MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump reinstates tariffs on Argentine, Brazilian metals to stand for US farmers

Bolsonaro will not hesitate to call Trump directly regarding the tariffs.

United States President Donald Trump Monday announced he would be reimposing tariffs on imports of metals from Argentina and Brazil as a result of those two countries' devaluing their respective currencies “which is not good for our farmers.” Trump made the statement through his Twitter account.

“Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies,” explained Trump, who then added that “effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries.”

Following his announcement, Trump called on The Federal Reserve to take action in the same direction.

“The Federal Reserve should likewise act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our strong dollar by further devaluing their currencies,” he wrote.

“This makes it very hard for our manufactures & farmers to fairly export their goods. Lower Rates & Loosen - Fed!,” he added.

The President also pointed out that ”U.S. Markets are up as much as 21% since the announcement of Tariffs on 3/1/2018 - and the U.S. is taking in massive amounts of money (and giving some to our farmers, who have been targeted by China)!“

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Monday that if the announcement was confirmed he would discuss the case with Economy Minister Paulo Guedes and not hesitate to call Trump directly. ”I have an open channel with him,“ he said.

The United States is the first customer of semi-finished steel products in Brazil.

Brazil's Real depreciated 5% since the beginning of November against the dollar, beating successive historical lows. Last week, it surpassed for the first time the Rs 4.27 per dollar, compared to 4.01 at the beginning of November snd traded Monday at 4.23.

Analysts believe this is mainly due to the uncertainties caused by the trade war between China and the United States and to investors' doubts about the Bolsonaro administration's ability to continue with its open market reform plan.

In Argentina, the stock market went down after Trump's announcement, aluminum producer Aluar suffering the heavier losses.

”It is unexpected for everyone, for us, for Brazil and for the private sector,“ said Argentine Minister of Production and Labor, Dante Sica, who added: ”We still don't know what this implies. We want to know the details and the magnitude of this announcement.”