As US tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50 percent on Wednesday, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters in an interview that he saw no room for direct talks now with US President Donald Trump, which would otherwise likely be a “humiliation.”
Brazil is not about to announce reciprocal tariffs, he said. Nor will his government give up on cabinet-level talks. But Lula himself is in no rush to ring the White House, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Brazil requested consultations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over 50 percent of tariff imposed by the US against the South American nation that went into effect on Wednesday, the AP reported.
“The US has flagrantly violated key commitments the country has agreed upon at the WTO, such as the principle of the most favored nation and tariff ceilings negotiated at that organization,” Brazil’s foreign ministry said in a statement, per the AP.
During a meeting of the Council for Sustainable Economic and Social Development held in Brasilia on Tuesday, Lula depicted the US trade move as “unjust” and highlighted Brazil’s progress on the international stage, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Brazil will respond to a steep tariff increase imposed by the US with a contingency plan and take its case to the WTO, Lula said Tuesday, Xinhua said.
Brazil’s government estimates that 35.9 percent of the country’s goods shipped to the American market have been affected. That is about 4 percent of Brazil’s total exports, according to the AP.
Trump unveiled the current tariff rate on July 9, in a letter addressed to Lula and published online, the Al Jazeera said.
Unlike other tariff-related letters at the time, Trump used the correspondence to criticize the Brazilian government for its decision to prosecute Bolsonaro over an alleged coup attempt, according to the Al Jazeera.