Brazil might challenge tariffs in US courts, finance minister says

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Wednesday that the South American country might challenge in U.S. courts the steep tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on U.S. imports of Brazilian goods.

"We will go to court if needed," Haddad told local news outlet UOL, adding that Brazil would not engage in lobbying efforts.

U.S. President Donald Trump slapped 50% tariffson several Brazilian goods this month, citing what he called a "witch hunt" against former President Jair Bolsonaro - who was friendly with Trump when they were both in office and is on trial on charges of plotting a coup - and trade practices that Trump said were unfair.

The U.S. also hit Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre Moraes, who is overseeing Bolsonaro's trial, with financial sanctions.

Brazil has expressed "indignation" at the tariffs, noting that it has run persistent trade deficits with the United States, and has called the sanctions on Moraes an interference in Brazil's justice system.

The office of Brazil's solicitor general later said that it has hired U.S. firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer to act as legal defense for the Brazilian state on the sanctions.

It said the scope of actions for the law firm include the defense against tariffs and financial restrictions targeting Brazil and its public officials. The action strategies should be defined in coming days, it said.

Haddad, in his remarks, noted that world leaders feel insecure about the United States, uncertain about what the future may hold.

He also said that the U.S. dollar remains a reserve currency and will continue to be for many years, unless Washington "keeps making mistakes."

Haddad cautioned that "weaponizing" the dollar would undermine its role, adding that countries cannot be prevented from conducting bilateral trade in local currencies if that lowers transaction costs for them.

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Gabriel Araujo, Mark Porter and Leslie Adler)

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