U.S.-Brazil Relations: What's Next

Name: U.S.-Brazil Relations: What's Next
Start: 2025-10-08T12:00:00-0400
End: 2025-10-08T13:15:00-0400

RSVP Required Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Explore the next chapter in U.S.-Brazil relations over lunch with Belfer Center Fellow Oliver Stuenkel—don’t miss this timely and dynamic discussion!

Date: Wed, Oct 8, 2025 Time: 12:00pm - 01:15pm Location: Room 434 A-B

Speaker
Oliver Stuenkel

Moderator
Maureen Page

A vendor displays dual flag jerseys featuring the Brazilian and U.S. flag, outside the condominium where former President Jair Bolsonaro is under house arrest in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)

Join us for a dynamic lunch discussion on the future of U.S.-Brazil relations with Oliver Stuenkel—Non-Resident Fellow at the Belfer Center, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, and Associate Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo (FGV).

Recent U.S. policy toward Brazil is breaking new ground: President Donald Trump recently imposed a 50 percent tariff on many Brazilian exports—one of the highest tariffs ever imposed on any nation—citing not trade imbalances, but allegations of judicial persecution against former president and Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro. This unprecedented move was quickly followed by the revocation of visas for several Supreme Court justices, a Section 301 investigation into Brazil’s trade practices, and the imposition of Magnitsky sanctions against Justice Alexandre de Moraes— a measure usually reserved for officials accused of large-scale corruption, human rights abuses, or undermining democratic institutions.

What does this dramatic shift mean for the future of U.S.-Brazil relations? How will it impact Washington’s standing in the region, its strategic positioning against China in Latin America, and the calculus of middle powers adapting to a multipolar world?

Don’t miss this timely conversation with Oliver Stuenkel as he unpacks the potential next phase for U.S.-Brazil engagements!