RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday that he will impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States if President Donald Trump follows through on a pledge to boost import taxes by 50% over the South American country’s criminal trial against his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday levied a 50% tariff against Brazil, which produces more than a third of the world's coffee, citing, in part, the country's treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro,

When U.S. President Donald Trump linked 50% tariffs on Brazil to the trial against his ally, the country's former far-right leader, Washington left Latin America's largest economy with few options to deescalate but may have overestimated the country's vulnerability to the levies.