The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has given some clue this Thursday what are the measures analyzed in response. In his first interview after the tariff, Lula has opted for pure reciprocity if the US president consumes his threat of imposing tariffs of 50% as of August 1. “If you charge us 50%, we will charge you 50%,” said the Brazilian. But, faithful to his style of, he has left other doors open: “We have several options. We can go to the WTO [Organización Mundial del Comercio]initiate international research and demand explanations [a la Casa Blanca]. But the main thing is to show that Brazil is respected. ”
Lula is a specialist in winning time and dialogue to overcome conflicts. It tanned in trade unionism. In addition, he had several months to study in detail the negotiating strategy of the Republican, a kind of. As he did last night, he has defended the autonomy of the Brazilian Judiciary. But this time it has gone further. He has compared the way in which his country and the US have responded to two relatively similar situations: “If what Trump did in the Capitol, he would have done it here, he would be judged as [Jair] Bolsonaro and could even go to jail. ”
Lula considers that his great rival, the ultra -rightist Jair Bolsonaro, is guilty of the conflict that has exploded in his face. “The former president of the Republic should assume his responsibility because he agrees with Trump’s taxes. In fact, his son [el diputado Eduardo Bolsonaro] He traveled there to influence Trump’s head, ”he stressed.
The judicial process against Bolsonaro, on the bench for coup, is a central element in this virulent conflict because the Republican tycoon made it clear, in his letter, that the punishment to Brazil also obeys what he considers the main rival of Lula.
The Brazilian government, which Trump has ignored Olympic since he took possession six months ago, multiplies meetings to evaluate advantages and disadvantages of different measures. There is margin, in view of the fact that there are three weeks of the deadline that Trump took place, on August 1.
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, has reiterated the disposal of the government to dialogue with Washington and look for a solution together. Brazilian diplomatic sources suggest that it is now key to know if the White House “has a willingness to continue negotiating at a technical level”, as was the case until Trump detonated the tariff bomb with his letter. For the Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, also close to Lula, the 50% tax represents “the greatest attack against Brazil in peacetime.”
The person in charge of coordinating the government response is the Vice President and Minister of Industry and Commerce, Geraldo Alckmin. In Brasilia, meetings happen.
Sources of the Presidency suggest that the 50% tax is, in reality, “a maneuver orchestrated by the extreme Brazilian right, by Bolsonarism, so that a foreign country uses tariffs as a weapon against the entire Brazilian people.” “An interference in the 2026 elections,” they add.
Bolsonaro, leader of the opposition although he is disabled, has abandoned his home in Brasilia on Thursday, where he announced that he would spend all July to recover from his health problems. The former president has been seen in a restaurant in the middle of the Trumpist attack to his country and when the press agrees that, if the punishment applies, he will damage the electoral perspectives of Bolsonarism. Next to him, he was the favorite to take over as a candidate, Tarcisio de Freitas, governor of São Paulo.
Trump threatens to punish Brazil with 50% taxes on all its exports, that is, more than any other country. And that the South American power is one of the few commercial partners with whom the US enjoys surplus, as Lula has again stressed this Thursday.
Just in case, the Brazilian recalled the figures and lamented that Trump’s advisors do not take it out of their mistakes. “He alleges that the United States has a deficit with Brazil, but it is not true. In 2023, we had a deficit of 7,000 million dollars. And, if we add the last 15 years, Brazil accumulates a deficit of 410,000 million with the United States. Nobody in the treasure explained this before writing that absurd letter?”
The United States, second trading partner at China’s distance, is the destination of 12% of Brazilian exports and the origin of 15% of what Brazil imports. The two most populated countries on the continent maintained diplomatic relations two century ago.
