Brazil will expand partnerships with the US ‘without giving up sovereignty’, says Lula

O President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reinforced this Saturday (9) in a publication on X, that the Brazil will continue negotiations to expand partnerships with the USA and strengthen the “path of dialogue without giving up our sovereignty”. In the meeting with Donald Trump held last Thursday, (7) Lula discussed topics such as bilateral trade, tariff negotiations, cooperation in the fight against organized crime and critical minerals.

The US president, the following day, spoke again about the “good relationship” he has with the Brazilian president. He also said that there were conversations about tariff issues, among other topics. At the meeting, it was highlighted that Brazil had a deficit of between US$ 20 billion (in figures calculated by Brazil) and US$ 30 billion (according to American calculations) with the USA last year.

The American government often uses the trade deficit recorded in relation to other countries to justify imposed tariffs. Another highlight of the meeting was the discussion on the exploration of critical and strategic minerals.

According to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, Lula commented on the recent approval in the Chamber of the legal framework aimed at welcoming investments in the sector. Silveira also spoke about “plurality of dialogue” and defended the entry of resources from investors from China, the United States and Russia and others.

In turn, the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, said on Thursday that he hopes to advance new cooperation agreements with the United States for operations to combat organized crime and money laundering.

We held an important meeting for Brazil and the United States this week. We discussed bilateral trade, tariff negotiations, cooperation in combating organized crime and critical minerals. We will continue in negotiations to expand our partnerships, strengthening…

— Lula (@LulaOficial)