Money managers from Aberdeen Group Plc to Franklin Templeton are staying bullish on Brazil, betting the country will withstand its unexpected turn in the epicenter of Donald Trump’s trade war. One reason: The fairly closed Brazilian economy,

The president signaled he would seek to use the threat of steep levies to reorient trade and protect his political allies.

It’s not just about defending his buddy Jair Bolsonaro or protecting social-media companies from Brazilian laws. It’s much bigger than that: Trump’s grievance is global.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he planned to hit Brazil with a 50% tariff, in part because of the treatment of its former president Jair Bolsonaro, his political ally.

Protestors in Sao Paulo made an effigy of the US president, and then set it on fire. As the paper POTUS went up in flames, they cheered and chanted "Brazil is ours," and "Trump out." The protest was in response to the Trump administration's plan to increase tariffs on imports of Brazilian goods from 10% to 50%.

Bolsonaro is ideologically aligned with Trump, and he has tried to consciously model himself after the US President. Trump is seen at the centre of a global resurgence of right-wing populism that is identifiable by economic nationalism,

Brazil believes it can withstand Trump’s 50 percent tariff, and aides to Lula say he is unlikely to shrink from a confrontation with the White House.

By Luciana Magalhaes and Ricardo Brito BRASILIA (Reuters) -When U.S. President Donald Trump linked 50% tariffs on Brazil to the trial against his ally, the country's former far-right leader, Washington left Latin America's largest economy with few options to deescalate but may have overestimated the country's vulnerability to the levies.