NewsTracker Answers for week of Oct. 06, 2025

Q: Millions of Brazilians are using a fast and free digital payment system for all their purchases and to pay all their bills. About 80% of the population uses the PIX system, triggering harsh criticism from the Trump administration which says it hurts U.S. companies like Visa, Apple, and Google. Where is Brazil, the largest country in South America?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The long relationship between the two most populous nations in the Western Hemisphere has grown tense this year. Why did President Donald Trump impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods?

A. Brazil’s big trade surplus

B. Brazil’s big tariff on U.S.

C. Brazil’s trial of Trump’s pal

C. Trump imposed the steep tariffs in an attempt to stop the trial of his political ally Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of planning a coup after he lost Brazil’s 2022 presidential election. The former president was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Instead of hurting Brazil’s current president, the big U.S tariff increase only raised the popularity of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Q: Before the tariff increase, what share of Brazil’s exports went to the United States?

A. 30%

B. 23%

C. 16%

D. 10%

D. The United States bought 10% of Brazil’s exports in 2023, while China bought 30%, according to the CIA World Factbook. The United States enjoyed a trade surplus by supplying 16% of Brazil’s 2023 imports. China had a trade deficit as it supplied 23% of Brazil’s imports. China was Brazil’s largest trading partner and the United States ranked second. Brazil was expected to turn to China for more trade.

Q: A tariff fight earlier this year left U.S. soybean farmers out in the cold as their biggest customer, China, took its business to South America. Brazil and which other nation are reaping billions of dollars by selling more soybeans to China?

A. Argentina

B. Bolivia

C. Colombia

D. Ecuador

A. After Trump promised Argentina’s conservative President Javier Milei about $20 billion for a financial bailout, he briefly suspended export taxes on soybeans to make a big sale to China. The move angered some farm-state Senators and Congress members.

Q: The PIX digital payment system in Brazil could serve as a blueprint for the BRICS alliance of developing economies as it attempts to create an international payment platform and reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar. Brazil is a member BRICS. Which of these nations is NOT a member of the economic alliance?

A. Russia

B. Indonesia

C. China

D. South Africa

B. India, not Indonesia, is a member of the BRICS group. Trump has threatened to penalize members of BRICS with higher tariffs if they try to create a rival to the U.S. dollar.