President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated, this Wednesday (3), that the Brazilian government will look for new economic partners, if necessary, and that it will not accept the “treatment” that United States President Donald Trump gave to Brazil this week.
“The important thing is for you to know that we are at a decisive moment for Brazilian society and even global society to recognize the strengthening of democracy in our country”, he highlighted. “Our fight is so that this country is not treated like an insignificant republic. We are big, we have history and we will not accept the treatment that the USA gave to Brazil this week”, declared Lula during a ministerial meeting broadcast live.
The Brazilian president also stated that he will send another letter to Trump and will write “as many articles as he needs to write in the American and world press” to show that the US is wrong. When mentioning the possible new tariff of 25% against Brazil, Lula was categorical in saying that he will not “keep crying” and that the country will look for new economic partners and sell to “whoever wants to buy”.
“If you don’t want to invest here, we’ll look for another one. What you need to know is that Brazil owns its nose. This is a sovereign country,” he concluded.
The new threat of tariffs comes after the Trump administration concluded that Brazil’s economic practices are unfair under Section 301 of US trade law, which covers areas such as electronic payment services, preferential tariffs, intellectual property protection and access to the ethanol market.
The pressure increased again this Wednesday (3), when the United States included Brazil in an investigation into forced labor and proposed an additional tariff of 12.5% for countries considered to be failing in combating the circulation of products associated with this type of practice.
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Announcement of taxation comes after Flávio’s visit
The release of the document also provoked questions within the Brazilian government about the moment chosen by the United States to make its conclusions public.
The report was released a week after senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) participated in a meeting with Trump at the White House. During the visit, the parliamentarian once again criticized decisions by the Brazilian Judiciary and reinforced requests related to the classification of Brazilian criminal factions as terrorist organizations by the USA.
At the time, the pre-candidate criticized freedom of expression in Brazil and reinforced his request to the US president to include Brazilian factions on the list of terrorist groups investigated by the US — a request met in an announcement by the Trump administration two days later.
The first tariff imposed on Brazil also occurred after a visit by former federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) to the North American president, who in turn tried to interfere in the Brazilian Judiciary and alleviate or free from sentence former president Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced to 27 years in prison for the coup plot.
