Brazil's president Lula hits back as Trump tariffs threaten US trade showdown
Trump announced plans to slap Brazil with tariffs on 1 August earlier this month, partly in retaliation for a supposed political 'witch hunt' against his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro. The former Brazilian president faces decades in jail for allegedly plotting a military coup to stop Lula from taking office after the former lost the 2022 presidential election.
In a rare interview with the New York Times, clearly designed to send a message to the White House on the eve of a potential trade war, Lula urged the US president to avoid creating a 'lose-lose' relationship between two of the largest economies in the Americas and said he did not fear publicly criticizing Trump, who he recently called an 'emperor'.
'There's no reason to be afraid. I am worried, obviously, because we have economic interests, political interests, technological interests. But at no point will Brazil negotiate as if it were a small country up against a big country. Brazil will negotiate as a sovereign country,' said Lula, who has enjoyed a bounce in the polls after Trump's threat.
Lula indicated his officials were willing to negotiate economic issues with the US: 'In politics between two states, the will of neither should prevail. We always need to find the middle ground. This is achieved not by puffing out your chest and shouting about things you can't deliver, nor by bowing your head and simply saying 'amen' to whatever the United States wants.'
But Brazil's president indicated that the political future of Bolsonaro – whose plot allegedly included plans to assassinate Lula – was a judicial matter and therefore non-negotiable. 'Brazil has a constitution, and the former president is being tried with a full right to a defense,' Lula insisted.
The 79-year-old leftist said his message for Trump was 'that Brazilians and Americans do not deserve to be victims of politics, if the reason President Trump is imposing this tax on Brazil is because of the case against former President Bolsonaro'.
Trump's decision to cite Bolsonaro's plight as one of the main justifications for his move against Brazil has left many observers doubting that the 'Trump Always Chickens Out' (Taco) maxim will apply to the Friday deadline facing Lula's government. The US president has likened Bolsonaro's 'disgraceful' treatment to attempts to prosecute him after he unsuccessfully tried to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. Bolsonaro has denied plotting a coup but has admitted seeking 'alternative ways' of stopping Lula taking power.
'I'd be very surprised if Trump pulled back in this case, not just because of his friendship with the Bolsonaro family … but above all because in Trump's mind it reflects his own trauma,' the American Brazil specialist Brian Winter told the Estado de São Paulo newspaper this week.
Lula hinted he believed a retreat might be possible, comparing the current situation to unfounded fears over the millennium bug. 'Do you remember when we were about to turn from 1999 to 2000, and there was worldwide panic that the computer systems were going to crash? Nothing happened,' said Lula, although he admitted he could not be certain 'nothing will happen.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump weighs in on American Eagle's Sydney Sweeney ad controversy
Donald Trump has given his take on actress Sydney Sweeney's controversial jeans advert for American Eagle. The advert, which featured the tagline: 'Sydney Sweeney has good genes', was slammed by some who have accused it of subtly promoting white supremacy and eugenics. Speaking to the press before embarking on Air Force One on Sunday (3 August), the US president said the ad was 'fantastic' after a reporter informed him that the 27-year-old actress is a registered Republican. 'Oh, now I love her ad,' he said, adding: 'You'd be surprised at how many people are Republicans', though admitted he did not think Sweeney would have voted red. 'If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.' On Saturday (2 August), it was revealed that the Euphoria actress has been a registered voter with the Republican Party in Florida since June 2024, according to public voting records.
Reuters
10 minutes ago
- Reuters
Turkey inflation falls to 33.52% in July, below forecast
ISTANBUL, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Turkish annual consumer price inflation dipped more than expected to 33.52% in July, opens new tab, official data showed on Monday, sustaining a downward trend despite strong rises in housing and education sector prices. Month-on-month, opens new tab, inflation was 2.06%, the Turkish Statistical Institute said, below forecasts. In June, CPI inflation was 1.37% monthly and 35.05% annually. In a Reuters poll, the monthly inflation rate was expected to be 2.4% in July, with the annual rate seen at 34.05%. On July 24, the central bank cut its policy rate by 300 basis points and relaunched an easing cycle, while saying that leading indicators suggest a temporary rise in monthly inflation in July due to month-specific factors. A mid-year hike in fuel and tobacco prices as well as a rise in natural gas prices had been expected to drive monthly inflation. Transport prices rose 2.89% month-on-month and alcoholic drinks and tobacco prices rose 5.69%. Housing prices were up 5.78%. The domestic producer price index rose 1.73% month-on-month in July for an annual rise of 24.19%, the data showed. Inflation is seen dropping to 29.75% at the end of this year according to the poll median, higher than the central bank forecast of 24%. Economy officials say they are confident that inflation to fall to between 24-29% central bank forecast range at the end of the year.
Reuters
10 minutes ago
- Reuters
BP strikes major oil discovery offshore Brazil, its largest in decades
Aug 4 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L), opens new tab said on Monday it has made its largest oil and gas discovery in 25 years in Brazil's Santos basin, a so-called pre-salt area in deep water offshore which is believed to be a large reservoir of oil and gas. BP returned its focus to fossil fuels last year to regain investor confidence and revive underperforming shares after a troubled push into renewable energy. Its London-listed shares rose 1.4% in early trade. BP, which has plans to grow its global oil and gas production to 2.3 million to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2030, said this was its 10th discovery so far this year, following findings in Trinidad, Egypt, Brazil and others. Production in 2024 was 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent. BP expects production to be lower in 2025. The oil major, which is planning to establish a new big production hub offshore Brazil, had secured the block in December 2022 in what it said were "very good commercial terms". BP holds 100% participation in the Bumerangue block with Brazil's state-run company Pré-Sal Petróleo SA as the production sharing contract manager. Results from the rig-site analysis indicate elevated levels of carbon dioxide, BP said, adding that it would start laboratory analysis, which would give more insight into the potential of the block. BP is set to report its second-quarter results on Tuesday.
