Presidents met in Malaysia this Sunday (26), cooling the tension between the two countries; priority, according to the Brazilian vice-president, is to remove the 40% surcharge ‘as quickly as possible’
The acting president, Geraldo Alckmin, assessed the meeting in Malaysia between Donald Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as an advance, mainly due to the political rapprochement between the two presidents, according to him, done with “brilliant” and “praise”, a fact that in his opinion opened the way for technical negotiations on the tariff imposed on Brazilian products.
“First, highlight the very important political rapprochement between President Lula and President Trump, which opened the doors of understanding. Now it’s time to move forward on technical issues, right? Tax and non-tax issues, investment opportunities in Brazil and the United States, economic complementarity. But the most important thing was done, which was the political step and done brilliantly. So I think it was a step for us to now be able to advance on the technical side and establish the work agenda”, he stated.
According to President Lula, who is still in Malaysia, there is a possibility of a meeting next week in Washington, but Alckmin stated that there is no set date yet. The vice-president, who is also Minister of Development, Industry and Commerce, highlighted that the priority now is to remove the 40% surcharge on Brazilian products as quickly as possible. He classified taxation beyond 10% as “totally inadequate” and recalled that Brazil’s average tax on US products is 2.7%.
“The priority is to remove the 40%. This is the priority. You have agricultural sectors, you have industry sectors, you have the most varied”, he defended. For the acting president, American companies, as well as Brazilian ones, have a great interest in expanding their commercial relations. He considered that the American government, for now, has not made specific requests, but the collaboration of the private sector is crucial for the progress of the negotiations.
Geraldo Alckmin also defended the approval of measures by the National Congress, such as Redata, which attracts investments for data centers, considered important taking into account Brazil’s potential in renewable energy.
