(Refiles to clarify in paragraph 1 that the hearing is before the U.S. Trade Representative)
By Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO, June 23 (Reuters) – Brazilian right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who plans to run in the country’s October presidential election, has registered to appear at a public hearing at the U.S. International Trade Commission, before the U.S. Trade Representative, to oppose a proposed 25% tariff on Brazilian goods.
The hearing, scheduled for July 6, will consider the recommendation by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to impose the tariff following an investigation into Brazil’s trade practices. The agency said it had identified what it described as “unreasonable” practices.
The findings by the USTR were made public shortly after Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, visited the U.S., where he met President Donald Trump and senior members of the U.S. administration.
Following the announcement of the proposed tariffs, the younger Bolsonaro said he had asked Trump not to tax Brazilian companies.
In a summary of his planned testimony, made public by his office on Tuesday, the senator said he opposes the tariff on “behalf of the consumers and producers of both countries, and in defense of a partnership that has served the United States and Brazil for more than 80 years.”
(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
