The Brazilian president said the region needs neither US aircraft carriers nor punitive economic measures
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazil are a strategic mistake that will harm the American economy, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has written in an op-ed for the Washington Post.
Last week, the US imposed an additional 12.5% tariff on Brazilian products on top of the previous 25%, potentially raising duties on some goods to 37.5%. According to Global Trade Alert, Brazil and Türkiye now share second place in terms of the scale of the tariffs Washington applies to them, behind China.
In an op-ed published on Sunday, Lula said he was “taken aback” by Trump’s initial announcement of 50% tariffs last year, which he described as politically motivated.
Highlighting the US trade surplus with Brazil, Lula argued that the tariffs would hurt American industries which are dependent on Brazilian imports, and make products including food, footwear, textiles, furniture, and auto parts more expensive for US consumers.
“Besides being unfair, the new tariffs are a strategic mistake: They will harm the US economy and the US partnership with Brazil,” Lula wrote.
He noted that Brazilian exports to the US have fallen to their lowest level since 1997, with bilateral trade down 12.8% from the same period last year. He warned that the tariffs would disrupt supply chains and prompt Brazilian companies to “replace their US suppliers with partners elsewhere.”
“Latin America and the Caribbean need neither aircraft carriers patrolling their waters nor punitive tariffs,” Lula wrote.
On Saturday, Brazil denied visas to two US State Department officials who had planned to visit the country and reportedly discuss its voting system ahead of the presidential election in October.
“Brazil’s destiny is for Brazilians alone to determine – without foreign interference or subservience,” Lula said.
In the October election, Lula is expected to face Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The elder Bolsonaro, a close ally of Trump, was sentenced to 27 years in prison last year for plotting a coup after losing his 2022 re-election bid. He has denied the charges as politically motivated.
Trump has repeatedly demanded that Brazil drop the legal proceedings against Bolsonaro, describing them as a “witch hunt.”
The fact that “Besides being unfair, the new tariffs are a strategic mistake: They will harm the US economy and the US partnership with Brazil,” Lula wrote really puts things into perspective.
When you look at last week, the US imposed an additional 12.5% tariff on Brazilian products on top of the previous 25%, potentially raising duties on some goods to 37.5%, the implications are hard to ignore.
What stands out is the Brazilian president said the region needs neither US aircraft carriers nor punitive economic. That is the part worth paying attention to.
Considering in an op-ed published on Sunday, Lula said he was “taken aback” by Trump’s initial announcement of 50% tariffs last year, which he described as politically motivated, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
Reading that the Brazilian president said the region needs neither US aircraft carriers nor punitive economic — hard to argue with the logic there.
The fact that “Besides being unfair, the new tariffs are a strategic mistake: They will harm the US economy and the US partnership with Brazil,” Lula wrote really puts things into perspective.
The detail about the Brazilian president said the region needs neither US aircraft carriers nor punitive economic is something people should sit with.
When you look at last week, the US imposed an additional 12.5% tariff on Brazilian products on top of the previous 25%, potentially raising duties on some goods to 37.5%, the implications are hard to ignore.
What stands out is the Brazilian president said the region needs neither US aircraft carriers nor punitive economic. That is the part worth paying attention to.
Considering in an op-ed published on Sunday, Lula said he was “taken aback” by Trump’s initial announcement of 50% tariffs last year, which he described as politically motivated, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
Luiz Inacio has been pushing this agenda for a while now.