Senate presidents (Union-AP) and the House of Representatives (Republicans-PB) disclosed, on Thursday (10), a joint note in which they recommend that the country acts with dialogue in diplomatic and commercial fields in response to 50% tariff over all Brazilian products exported to the United States (US). The measure was announced on Wednesday (9) by the President, and his entry into force is scheduled for August 1.
The note with the position of the presidents of the two legislative houses was prepared after the collection of party leaders of the government’s allied base. The text says that the National Congress will closely follow the consequences of the commercial and diplomatic crisis triggered by Trump and cites the law of economic reciprocity.
Sanctioned in April, the law establishes criteria for the suspension of commercial concessions, investments and obligations related to intellectual property rights in response to unilateral measures adopted by a country or economic bloc that negatively impact Brazilian international competitiveness. “A mechanism that gives us conditions, our people, to protect our sovereignty,” says the note.
The law authorizes the Executive Power, in coordination with the private sector, “to adopt contracted in the form of restriction on imports of goods and services or suspension of commercial concessions, investment and obligations related to intellectual property rights and measures to suspend other obligations provided for in any commercial agreement in the country”. Parliamentarians finalize the note stating that they will be ready to act with balance and firmness in defense of the economy and protection of jobs in the country.
Repudiation
Earlier, the PT leader in the House, Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ), filed a motion of repudiation of Trump’s decision. The deputy asks the text to be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of the United States in Brasilia. The Motion of the petista leader says that it is unacceptable that the president of the United States adopts economic measures against Brazil “with purely political motivations, solely to defend former President Jair Bolsonaro and attack the country’s democratic institutions, such as the Supreme Court.”
The measure is an “arbitrary retaliation and a direct affront to Brazilian sovereignty”, and Brazil cannot “passively passively accept this kind of external interference that harms our democracy and the principles of the rule of law”, adds the text. “We express our firm repudiation of President Donald Trump’s decision to impose absurd 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports, based on unleashed lies against Brazil, a peaceful and cordial country, and his system of justice, which stands out for his firm commitment to due process and his solid independence, prior to political, internal and external pressures,” says the motion.
“This measure, if maintained, may affect the interests of about 10,000 Brazilian companies that export to the US and the use of millions of Brazilians, especially in sectors that produce airplanes, car parts, orange juice, meats, steels and other strategic products,” the text continues.
“It is, fundamentally, a measure offensive to Brazil’s sovereignty and democracy, which will affect, for minor political reasons, such as the defense of perpetrators of democracy, the strategic bilateral relations Brazil/US, which need to be protected from solert agents who maliciously undermine the larger interests of both countries,” the text concludes.
Response from Brazil
This Wednesday (9), President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva issued a note rebating Trump, in which he says he could apply the economic reciprocity law in response to the announcement of the US president. “In this sense, any measure of unilateral tariff elevation will be answered in the light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity. Sovereignty, respect and uncompromising defense of the interests of the Brazilian people are the values that guide our relationship with the world,” said the president.
Lula reaffirmed that Brazil is a sovereign country, “with independent institutions, which will not accept to be protected by anyone” and said that Trump’s claim is false that taxation would be applied due to trade balance deficit with Brazil. “The statistics of the United States government itself prove a surplus of this country in the trade of goods and services with Brazil of the order of $ 410 billion over the last 15 years,” said the president.
*With information from Agência Brasil
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
