The Brazilian government is still evaluating the convenience or otherwise of a new meeting between presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump during the G7 meeting, between the 15th and 17th of this month in France. The understanding is that it would not make sense to ask for a conversation, given that the two heads of state were together on the 7th in Washington.
A new meeting would make sense, in Brazil’s view, if any point arose that Lula could discuss with Trump regarding tariffs or classifying criminal factions as terrorist groups. This scenario would depend on prior conversations between the two presidents’ assistants. The Brazilian government has not yet made a request for a meeting with Trump.
Even without a formal meeting, Lula and Trump, however, must inevitably meet during the summit, as the number of participants is limited. The G7 is made up of the seven largest economies in the world. Brazil is not part of the group, but was invited by the French hosts to participate.
Last Wednesday, Lula said he decided to go to the G7 given the possibility of new tariffs being imposed by the United States on Brazilian products.
— I wasn’t even going to the G7, but now I’m going, because someone needs to put order in the house and put an end to the dismantling of multilateralism, the dismantling of democracy and the devaluation of institutions — said the Brazilian president, at the opening of the ministerial meeting on Wednesday.
Since the meeting between Lula and Trump at the White House on May 7, the United States has classified the Brazilian factions PCC and CV as terrorist organizations and concluded two investigations into commercial relations that proposed the adoption of tariffs of 25% and 12.5% on products imported from Brazil.
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Even if he does not meet with Trump, Lula should, according to the expectations of members of the government, address the issue of tariffs in his speech at the G7, since one of the central themes of the summit should be “global macroeconomic imbalances”.
This week, the US released two reports on investigations conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act. In the first of these, announced on Tuesday, the Trump administration suggested a 25% tariff on Brazilian products, in a process over commercial practices that it considers unfair, ranging from the use of Pix, through intellectual property issues, to court decisions and deforestation. The report considers that certain acts, policies and practices of the Brazilian government are “unreasonable” and “encumber or restrict” US trade with the country.
The following day, Washington announced the proposal for a tariff of up to 12.5% on 60 countries for alleged failures related to “forced labor”, which would mean that Brazil, for example, does not prevent the entry of products into the country that violate these rules. The report also points out irregularities in the country in specific segments.
The movement was interpreted by economists and foreign trade experts as an attempt by Trump to rebuild his “tariff wall” after the US Supreme Court in February overturned the import taxes that had been announced by the Republican in 2025.
