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

The United States and Brazil appeared to have launched a sudden trade war on Wednesday.

Most economic analyses say the tariffs will worsen inflationary pressures and subtract from economic growth, but Trump has used the taxes as a way to assert the diplomatic and financial power of the U...