Lula asks Trump to lift 40 percent tariff from Brazilian goods

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has requested that Donald Trump lift the US government’s 40% tariff on Brazilian imports.

On Monday, the leaders phoned in for 30 minutes. According to a statement from Lula’s office, they exchanged phone numbers during the call to maintain a direct line of communication, and President Lula reiterated his invitation for Trump to attend the upcoming climate summit in Belem.

Trump soon after sharing a positive conversation with Lula on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said, “We discussed a lot, but it was primarily focused on the economy and trade between our two countries.”

He added that the leaders “will be having further discussions, and will come together in the near future, both in Brazil and the United States.”

In addition to a 10 percent tariff on earlier products, the Trump administration had already imposed a 40 percent tariff on Brazilian goods in July. According to the Brazilian leader’s office, Lula reminded Trump that Brazil was one of three Group of 20 (G20) nations that the US still had a trade surplus with.

The Trump administration argued that Brazil’s policies and former president Jair Bolsonaro’s criminal prosecution constitute an economic emergency, and that this is how the tariffs were justified.

A panel of the Supreme Court handed Bolsonaro a 27-year and three-month prison sentence earlier this month after he was found guilty of trying to run for president after losing his 2022 re-election campaign.

Trump and Lula had a brief conversation on the UN General Assembly’s New York sidelines in September, where they both praised their “excellent chemistry.”