Amid tensions with US government, the Minister of Finance argued that ‘persecution of a Supreme Court minister is not the way of approaching two countries’ and criticized ‘internal forces working against the country’s own interests’ ‘interests.’
This Thursday (31), the Minister of Finance,classified as a “better starting point than expected” the decision of the government of to exempt almost 700 Brazilian items from a tariff package imposed during Donald Trump’s management. However, in an interview with journalists, Haddad stressed that Brazil is still “far from the point of arrival” and that “many negotiations” will be needed to achieve a good deal. According to the minister, the Brazilian government had already noticed in the last ten days “a greater opening” and “greater sensitivity” of US diplomacy to the arguments of Brazil. “It’s good that the starting point is better, but we are far from the point of arrival,” he said, asking for common sense. Haddad recalled that the two countries maintain 200 years of good relationship, which, in his view, is a factor that can lead to a good deal.
He recalled that when the rates were announced, he warned that products such as orange juice, coffee and meat would make it more expensive to the American consumer, and that the reversal of these rates was expected. For the minister, the exemption of some of these items, such as orange juice, corrects measures that seemed “out of purpose”, given the integration of the production chain between the two countries.
Haddad stated that the decision paves the way for a “more rational, sober, less passionate,” but nothing is definitive and everything can be reviewed. He also defended the solidity of Brazilian institutions, stating that Brazil is “one of the most consolidated democracies in the world” and that any questions about the judiciary must be asked in the competent international forums, such as the Human Rights Committee of and not through “internal forces working against the interests of the country”, which, according to him, “weakens Brazil”.
“We are one of the most consolidated democracies in the world. Any Brazilian citizen has all the instruments of defense, inside and outside Brazil. We are signatory to international agreements, international treaties. I can not remember one, an important convention that Brazil has no longer incorporated into its legal system. So there is misinformation. Interests of the country. This is not happening in any other country in the world, it is only happening in Brazil.
*With information from Roberto Nonato and Soraya Lauand
*Report produced with the aid of AI
