Trump's Dictator Protection Program

Using tariffs to fight democracy

I usually don’t do evening posts. One a day at breakfast is, I think, enough or more than enough. But Trump’s latest letter, imposing a 50 percent tariff on Brazil, marks a new departure, and I think merits a special bulletin. After all, it’s both evil and megalomaniacal.

Here’s the first page:

Notice that Trump barely even pretends that there’s an economic justification for this action. This is all about punishing Brazil for putting Jair Bolsonaro on trial.

Bolsonaro, as most readers probably know, is Brazil’s previous president, who lost the last election — but tried to stay in power through a coup overturning that election. Of course that sounds familiar.

Now, this wouldn’t be the first time America has used tariff policy for a political purpose. On the contrary, the international trading system we set up after World War II was in part motivated by the belief of U.S. officials that trade, in addition to being economically beneficial, was a force for peace and would strengthen democracy around the world. They were probably right, and in any case it was a noble goal.

Now Trump is trying to use tariffs to help another wannabe dictator. If you still thought America was one of the world’s good guys, this should tell you whose side we’re on these days.

Why do I say that it’s megalomaniacal? Brazil has more than 200 million people. Here’s where its exports go:

Source: World Trade Organization

Those exports to the U.S. are less than 2 percent of Brazil’s GDP. Does Trump really imagine that he can use tariffs to bully a huge nation, which isn’t even very dependent on the U.S. market, into abandoning democracy?

So as I said, evil and megalomaniacal. If we still had a functioning democracy, this Brazil gambit would by itself be grounds for impeachment. Of course, it would have to wait in line behind all the other grounds.

Anyway, don’t shrug this off. We’re looking at yet another terrible step along our nation’s downward spiral.