A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In the days before President Trump's tariff deadline with many countries tomorrow, he's made a lot of trade announcements. Last night, he said he has a deal with South Korea involving a 15% tariff, with more details to come. Now, earlier yesterday, he said there won't be a deal with India, which'll get 25% tariffs plus a penalty for buying energy from Russia. Trump also put a 50% tariff on refined copper from any country. And he made good on his promise to add a 50% tax on products coming from Brazil - punishment for what he says is Brazil's violation of human rights and the political persecution of its former president. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports Brazilian farmers and producers are now on edge.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: The hills outside the small city of Andradas in southeastern Brazil are covered in bright green coffee plants. Rich, red volcanic soil and plenty of rain makes this corner of the ag-rich Minas Gerais state ideal for growing high-end arabica beans.
(SOUNDBITE OF STEEL DOOR SLIDING OPEN)
KAHN: Seventy-year-old Paulo Risso (ph) slides open the huge steel door to his coffee warehouse.
PAULO RISSO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: He plunges his hand into a huge sack, pulling out a large bunch of beans.
I'm smelling that coffee. It's green, but it smells good.
RISSO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "The best-tasting there is," he says. Brazil, the largest coffee producer in the world, exports nearly 20% of its beans to the U.S. But Andradas' coffee growers, all small producers, send nearly all their coffee there. Anxiety has been high since Trump's tariff threat. Yesterday's executive order didn't help. Trump exempted hundreds of Brazilian products, but coffee wasn't one of them.
Trump says the tariffs are in response to what he calls Brazil's dismal human rights record - especially the case against its former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who's facing charges for trying to overturn his 2022 election loss and stay in power. Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury also sanctioned the Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing Bolsonaro's case. Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, says Trump's interference is unacceptable. His staunch nationalistic defense is giving his sagging popularity a boost, but coffee producer Risso in Andradas isn't convinced.
RISSO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "Look, the tariffs aren't good for anyone," he says. He blames Lula for the current situation.
(SOUNDBITE OF COFFEE POURING)
KAHN: As his wife, also a coffee producer, prepares a pourover and a spread of breads and cheeses in their home's large kitchen, Risso says Lula isn't a serious leader and should have met with Trump a long time ago. Lula says he's sent messages asking for negotiations, but claims his calls have gone unanswered. The industries that made it to Trump's long list of exemptions yesterday expressed relief.
CARLOS ALBERTO LUCATO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "Thank God things worked out for us," says Carlos Alberto Lucato of one of Brazil's citrus associations. Nearly half of all orange juice consumed in the U.S. comes from Brazil, much from Limeira, the self-described orange capital in Sao Paulo state. Some businesses have complained of sagging sales as shoppers prepared for a hit to the local economy.
(SOUNDBITE OF ACCORDION)
KAHN: Guilherme Turatti owns a small music shop and teaches accordion near the city's municipal market. He says he thinks the slowdown was just a coincidence. His wife, Ana Paula, hopes so, but says Presidents Trump and Lula have to work this out.
ANA PAULA: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "The two of them aren't thinking about their own people, she says." They're just thinking about themselves.
Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Limeira, Brazil. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
