Brazilian officials are considering a legal challenge to the steep tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told the news portal UOL that the South American country might head to US courts to challenge the legality of the 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods this month.

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“We will go to court if needed,” Haddad said.

He added that Brazil would not engage in lobbying efforts.

Trump cited what he called a “witch-hunt” against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial on charges of plotting a coup, and trade practices that he said were unfair as the reasons for the tariff rate.

Brazil has expressed “indignation” at the tariffs, noting that it has run persistent trade deficits with the US.

Industry strains

Haddad’s remarks come as tariffs have already hit a wide range of products and companies that US consumers rely on daily.

Coffee prices, which were already rising due to droughts, are expected to climb further under the new tariffs.

Coffee costs are up 14.5 percent compared with a year ago, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The US sources about 35 percent of its unroasted coffee from Brazil. Major buyers like JM Smucker, the owner of Folgers, reported that profits from its coffee business fell 22 percent in the second quarter, according to its earnings report released on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the Ohio-based company, which buys 225 million kilogrammes (500 million pounds) of coffee annually, mostly from Brazil and Vietnam, projected coffee prices could rise another 20 percent by April.

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On Wall Street, JM Smucker’s stock is tumbling. As of 1pm in New York (15:00 GMT) on Wednesday, it was down more than 5 percent from the market open.

The US also depends heavily on Brazil for beef imports, particularly ground beef. Consumers are already feeling the strain before this coming long weekend for the Labour Day holiday with the latest consumer price index showing beef prices up 1.5 percent from last month.

Robert Perosa, president of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association, previously warned that if Trump’s tariffs move forwards, continuing to export to the US market would be unsustainable.

Reserve currency threats

Haddad noted that world leaders today feel insecure about the US and what the future may hold.

The finance minister also said the US dollar remains a reserve currency and will continue to be so for many years unless Washington “keeps making mistakes”.

As Al Jazeera previously reported, the US dollar is so deeply entrenched in the global financial system that it would take decades to unravel and there are no viable challengers to its status.

Haddad said “weaponising” the dollar would undermine its role, adding that countries cannot be prevented from conducting bilateral trade in local currencies if that lowers transaction costs for them.