In brief
Eduardo Bolsonaro, 41, found guilty of lobbying the United States to impose sanctions and tariffs on Brazil in support of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, has been sentenced by Brazil’s Supreme Court to four years and two months in prison in absentia. The conviction follows the former president’s conviction for plotting a military coup in late 2022. Eduardo’s lobbying stemmed from the Trump administration’s earlier support for Bolsonaro, including a 50 % tariff on Brazil, and the U.S. had warned it would respond to his conviction. Lula’s administration has called targeted sanctions against Brazilian officials "unacceptable." The case underscores the ongoing political fallout from Bolsonaro’s disputed 2022 election defeat and the strained Brazil‑U.S. trade relationship.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has found 41‑year‑old Eduardo Bolsonaro guilty of seeking U.S. help in his father’s pending coup trial. The court’s decision comes after Eduardo was charged last year with lobbying U.S. authorities to impose tariffs or sanctions on Brazil in support of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a military coup and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Eduardo, a former congressman, moved to the United States in 2025 before the trial. On social media he called the conviction “baseless and senseless,” claiming U.S. justices wanted to block his future election bid and that he was never formally served, only informed through media reports.
The Supreme Court’s ruling – delivered in absentia – carries a four‑year and two‑month prison term. Eduardo has previously said he lives in “exile” for fear of arrest in Brazil. His lobbying included calls for U.S. support from the Trump administration, which by contrast called the case a “witch hunt.”
The U.S. imposed a 50 % tariff on Brazil in July of last year, a move that current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called “misguided and illogical.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged Washington would respond to Bolsonaro’s conviction. A former Supreme Court Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, was subjected to sanctions by the Trump administration, a move that Lula said was an unacceptable interference in Brazil’s justice system; the U.S. has since withdrawn the sanctions.
In the broader context, Jair Bolsonaro was convicted in 2022 of attempting to overturn his election loss, a case linked to a violent January 2023 storming of Brasília. Both Bolsonaro and Trump once enjoyed a friendly relationship and met at the White House in 2019. After losing subsequent elections both men denied defeat publicly. The current conviction reflects the ongoing political rift between the former Brazilian president and the U.S., and the international dimension added by the U.S. policy actions against Brazil.
