China is considered Brazil`s largest trading partner. [34] With both Bolsonaro and Trump facing sharp domestic political criticism for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic (Brazil`s policy mirrors that of the United States), any change of course vis-à-vis policy towards China until after the 2020 US presidential elections could be relegated to the background of domestic politics, of the electoral campaign and simple political survival. Trump has consistently tried to increase the anti-China map as part of his re-election campaign, and these efforts could have foreign policy implications, including for U.S.-Brazil relations. We could imagine that the Trump administration could put more pressure on Bolsonaro to give up cooperating with China, and Bolsonaro has shown a tendency to follow Trump`s leaders on a number of issues, and not just in the response to the coronavirus. However, China`s economy appears to be recovering faster than the U.S. economy due to its more effective response to the coronavirus. Due to the deteriorating trade relationship between the United States and China, Brazil is the natural alternative to American suppliers to Beijing in order to guarantee imports of food and other raw materials. In addition, Brazil has a long tradition of legislating “para inglês ver”, i.e. seeing for the English (foreigners). In other words, guidelines that are beautiful on paper, but are never applied in practice. If Brazil were under pressure from the Trump administration, it might be more convenient to publicly take a harder line on China, as its private-sector commodity producers try to export as much as possible, especially in the face of a severe global recession.

Brazilian President Dilma V. .