Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva used a Sunday opinion column in The Washington Post to call new U.S. tariffs on Brazil unfair and a strategic mistake. The duties range from 12.5% to 37.5% and follow the U.S. Supreme Court striking down last year’s 50% tariffs. Lula warned they would drive up costs for U.S. consumers and push Brazilian companies to replace their U.S. suppliers.
Lula called new U.S. tariffs unfair and a strategic mistake in a Sunday opinion column for The Washington Post, warning they would harm the two countries’ bilateral partnership and drive up costs for U.S. consumers. He wrote that the U.S. government imposed new tariffs on Brazil ranging from 12.5% to 37.5% this month, disregarding dozens of meetings between the two sides’ teams, solid technical arguments and documents he handed to President Trump personally.
The duties follow the U.S. Supreme Court striking down last year’s 50% tariffs, Lula noted. Food, footwear, textiles, furniture, auto parts and many other products will become more expensive for U.S. consumers, he added. Reuters said the U.S. Embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the column.
Lula cited Global Trade Alert, an independent organization based in Switzerland, as saying Brazil and Turkey are now the second most heavily tariffed countries by the United States, behind only China. That stands despite a U.S. trade surplus with Brazil in goods and services. The total reached $428 billion over 15 consecutive years, Lula said.
In the medium term, the tariffs will disrupt supply chains that are currently deeply integrated, and Brazilian companies will replace their U.S. suppliers with partners elsewhere, Lula wrote. He also noted Brazilian exports to the U.S. have hit their lowest level since 1997. The column ran the day after Trump ally and conservative presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro launched his campaign.
Brazil is open to constructive dialogue with the U.S., Lula wrote, but the country must decide its own future: “Brazil’s destiny is for Brazilians alone to determine — without foreign interference or subservience.”
Source: Investing.com
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