Brazilians back Lula against Trump, calling tariffs unjustified

Most Brazilians see Donald Trump’s threat of a 50% tariff as unjustified meddling in internal affairs and believe President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration is responding appropriately, according to a new poll.

The survey, conducted by AtlasIntel for Bloomberg News and published Tuesday, found that 50.3% of respondents view Trump’s move — which the US leader linked to legal proceedings against former President Jair Bolsonaro — as an attack on Brazil’s sovereignty.

After the US president’s July 9 threat, Lula said his government would respond in kind if tariffs go into effect on August 1 as planned. Some 44.8% of Brazilians considered that reaction appropriate, 27.5% viewed it as aggressive, and 25.2% found it weak, according to the poll. More than half of respondents, 51.2%, supported hitting back with retaliatory tariffs, while 28.6% said Brazil should strengthen ties with US rivals like China.

Lula’s disapproval rating edged down in July, falling to 50.3% from 51.8% in June. Meanwhile, his approval rating ticked up to 49.7% from 47.3% over the same period.

Brazil’s diplomatic dispute with the US also boosted support for Lula’s foreign policy. Some 60.2% now view it favorably, up from 49.6% in November 2023. The share of Brazilians who say Lula represents the country on the international stage better than Bolsonaro rose to 61.1% from 51%. And nearly half of those surveyed, 47.9%, believe Lula’s administration will be able to negotiate an agreement with the US.

Bolsonaro is expected to stand trial before the Supreme Court for allegedly attempting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Authorities also accused the 70-year-old former president of being tied to a plot to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

After Trump’s threat, one of the former president’s sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, claimed the move was a result of his lobbying efforts in the US to rally international support for his father.

For 62.2% of poll respondents, Trump’s decision to target Brazil is unjustified. Most see it as politically motivated, with 40.9% saying it was retaliation for Brazil’s participation in the Brics bloc and 36.9% attributing it to the Bolsonaro family’s influence in the US.

Trump’s image in Brazil is suffering as a result. Some 63.2% now view the US president negatively, up from from 47% in November 2023, while his favourable rating dropped sharply to 31.9% from from 48%. The image of the US has also deteriorated in Brazil, with 50.5% of respondents having a negative view of the superpower compared to 45.9% who see the country positively.

Looking ahead, if Trump’s tariff goes into effect next month, 48.6% of respondents believe it will have a significant impact Brazil’s economy. And some 70% expect inflation — which ticked up to 5.35% on an annual basis in June — to increase as a result.

AtlasIntel surveyed 2 841 people online between Friday and Sunday. The poll has a margin of error of two percentage points.

© 2025 Bloomberg

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