The present invention discloses a p-nitro tribromotoluene synthesis process, which is characterized in that in a first-step reaction, p-nitro toluene is added to a reaction kettle, a tail gas absorption device is opened, hydrogen bromide and excess bromine produced from the reaction are absorbed with water, the reaction temperature is controlled at 130-180 DEG C, bromine is added in a dropwise manner, the reaction time is controlled at 3-8 h, p-nitro dibromotoluene is generated through the reaction, and cooling is performed to a temperature of 60-80 DEG C; and in a second-step reaction, carbon tetrachloride, a catalyst BTEAB, sodium hydroxide and water are sequentially poured into the reaction kettle, the temperature is controlled at 40-80 DEG C, bromine is added in a dropwise manner, the reaction time is 2-6 h, filtering is performed to obtain a crude product, the crude product and ethanol are poured into the reaction kettle, stirring and heating reflux are performed for 20-60 min, cooling is performed to achieve a room temperature, and filtering and drying are performed to obtain the finished product. According to the present invention, the whole production process has characteristics of stable operation, easy control, low cost, high yield, and the like.