BRASILIA - US President Donald Trump's surprise decision to slap metals tariffs on Brazil is a blow to President Jair Bolsonaro's aim of forging closer ties with Washington and could push Latin America's No. 1 economy closer to Mr Trump's top trade foe - China.
Once in office, he doubled down on Mr Trump but also held back on bashing Beijing in favour of a more pragmatic approach with China, Brazil's top trade partner.Mr Trump's latest tariff announcement suggests Mr Bolsonaro's US overtures have fallen on deaf ears. "If you're concerned about China's growing economic influence in Latin America, imposing tariffs is at best counterproductive," said Ms Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
Mr Favaro added that Mr Trump's surprise tariff move, which was likely undertaken to shore up his base of US farmers ahead of next year's election,"could push Bolsonaro closer into China's hands." And while Mr Trump could lose next year's presidential election and be replaced by a Democrat more hostile to Mr Bolsonaro, Mr Xi is likely to remain in power for the foreseeable future, analysts said.
"The US-Brazil rapprochement is in trouble because the US is starting to realise there's not much Brazil can offer,"said Professor Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian university.