Brazilian goods imported by the United States will soon carry one of the highest tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, but that will not likely derail Latin America's largest economy, due to ample exemptions and stronger trade ties with China.

The president typically ties his tariffs to trade policy, but he hit Brazilian products with the highest rate of any country's goods largely due to politics.

Both of these views reflect the same mistaken mercantilist thinking that motivated the US president to launch his extraordinary tariffs in the first place. The settlements leave us in the second worst of all worlds,