The president typically ties his tariffs to trade policy, but he hit Brazilian products with the highest rate of any country's goods largely due to politics.

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s defiant response to Donald Trump’s 50% tariff threat was validated Wednesday — at least in the short term — with markets and businesses breathing a collective sigh of relief at the long list of exemptions to the levies.

Latin America’s biggest economy can weather the shock of a high tariff rate. But American coffee lovers and Brazilian ranchers are likely to feel the pain.