Brazil is responding the old-fashioned, counterproductive way by matching Trump's tariffs in the other direction. A FAR better response: Adopt Cory Doctorow suggestion to make Brazil a tech jailbreak haven, helping tech users and putting a big dent in the the tech monopolists' power.
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@dangillmor AGENT ORANGE THE BLOVIATED UNLETTERED FASCIST AND WANNABE MOB BOSS NEEDS TO BE REMOVED FROM POWER !
All it would take is at least 3.5% of the population to take to the streets grind the economy and governance to a halt thus making it too expensive for the ruling class NOT to yield power back to the people !
@dangillmor Trump is out of control and yet the Senate and Congress does nothing. The way things are going the US will have damaged relations with just about every country in the world.
@dangillmor Trump's every breath is extortion of some kind. It's how he thinks the world works.
@dangillmor I sincerely doubt that he came up with this on his own.
@dangillmor
The US enjoys a trade surplus with Brazil. What the US sells into Brazil is easily replaceable by other sources like China.
Congratulations Trump
@dangillmor but it’s such stupid, ineffectual extortion because Brazil isn’t going to pay the tariffs, we in the US are.
@dangillmor Let's see how popular he is with the head-up-ass crowd when they can't afford coffee.
I know. They'll probably find some reason to blame Biden or Obama but I can dream that some thing will wake them from their idiocy.
@dangillmor how is this is new? Felon isn't the first or will be the last US leader to use their power to oppress and punish legitimate overseas governments who don't conform to their goals or worldviews. Only difference now is he isn't trying to hide it behind a bs made up reason and likely future US leaders will openly do the same than wasting extra effort and money on propaganda.
Brazil is responding the old-fashioned, counterproductive way by matching Trump's tariffs in the other direction. A FAR better response: Adopt Cory Doctorow suggestion to make Brazil a tech jailbreak haven, helping tech users and putting a big dent in the the tech monopolists' power.
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@dangillmor Dan, in Brazil, Reciprocity Law is a thing. It was just enacted in April. Of course, they could still follow Cory’s suggestion in addition to.
https://www.gov.br/planalto/en/latest-news/2025/04/brazil-enacts-economic-reciprocity-law
@dangillmor As far as I know, unlike Canada (due to NAFTA and USMCA), Brazil's IP laws only implements the minimum requirements from WTO's TRIPS agreement. So there is less leeway to make changes without also receiving retaliation from other members of the WTO.
At best Lula can expand the use of exceptions to TRIPS, like is already done with pharmaceutical goods, but the opportunities are limited.
@dangillmor I suspect nobody wants to be the first to do this because they risk pissing everyone else off, too. unfortunately.
@dangillmor clearly they are being used as a weapon and governments should form unite to avoid being played off each other.
@dangillmor
Big Tech is in bed with #BRICS. It's why blue-chip tech is so willing to push foreword with all the user antagonistic features they have in the past two years. It's why they so blithely dismiss rule of law respecting places like the EU and Canada.
Blue chip tech companies are not worried about Brazil cutting into their profits because the've already brokered the terms of engagement between their respective syndicates. It's a textbook case of #rackiteering
@dangillmor actually, that’s not true. The biggest chance is to answer by breaking patents, what is a permanent act and make things (specially medicine) actually cheaper for us.
