US President Donald Trump
Rio de Janeiro: Half of Brazilians saw US President Donald Trump's trade policies as detrimental to their country's economy, according to a poll released Friday.
The negative perception was strongest among voters who supported Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the 2022 election, with 58 percent deeming Trump's policies harmful. Even among supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, 43 percent held the same negative view.
The findings came after Trump announced "reciprocal tariffs" on almost all its trading partners on April 2, affecting imports from Brazil.
While the Brazilian government has emphasized diplomacy, Lula da Silva recently signed into law a reciprocity act as a possible response to future trade measures by the United States or other countries. So far, no retaliatory tariffs have been triggered.
Beyond trade, the poll by research firm Ipsos-Ipec also gauged broader perception of the US government's performance. Forty-nine percent of Brazilians said his administration has a negative impact on their country, while 29 percent saw it as positive. Only 2 percent were indifferent.
On the Trump administration's performance concerning the American people, 21 percent of respondents called his leadership "terrible," 19 percent "good," 19 percent "average," and 9 percent "bad."
The poll, conducted on April 3-7, surveyed 2,000 people aged 16 and older across 131 municipalities and has an error margin of 2 percentage points.
