Lula and Trump agree to continue tariff talks as they discuss trade, organized crime, and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. President, Donald Trump, agreed to continue negotiations regarding the 37.5% tariffs recently imposed on Brazil during a phone call between both leaders.
The conversation lasted an hour and twenty minutes and was describes as “cordial”. The Brazilian president stated that the reasons cited by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for imposing the tariffs are “baseless.” In that regard, he told Trump that “staying at the negotiating table” was the “best option” for the United States to preserve Brazil as one of its main trading partners.
Trump agreed on the need to “maintain strong trade ties” and proposed that delegations from both countries meet “as soon as possible,” according to the Brazilian Presidency.
The tariffs announced in July followed U.S. investigations into alleged anti-competitive practices and Brazil’s importation of goods manufactured using slave labor, allegations that Lula’s government has rejected.
The Presidents also discussed efforts to combat organized crime, with Lula reaffirming his administration’s “interest” in cooperating with the United States.
Lula said that Brazil has the necessary “tools” to combat these factions “without needing” to designate them as terrorist organizations. The Trump administration recently classified Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), Brazil’s two largest gangs, as terrorist groups.
Among Brazil’s measures taken to combat organized crime, Lula cited efforts to cut off criminal groups’ financial resources and plans to construct additional maximum-security prisons.
Trump expressed his willingness to expand bilateral cooperation in the region and said that he would appoint “high-level officials” to follow up on this matter.
Lastly, in regards to the international front, both leaders agree on the “urgency” of a “negotiated solution” to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, after nearly five years of conflict.
Lula criticized the “ineffectiveness” of the UN Security Council, where the United States holds a permanent seat, and proposed a special meeting aimed at identifying “diplomatic solutions” to the ongoing conflicts. He added that “great leaders are not those who start wars, but those who end them.”
The call came amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the continent’s two largest economies, with less than two months remaining before Brazil’s presidential election in which Lula is seeking reelection.
The Brazilian government has accused the white house of attempting to influence the election in favor of right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, the president’s main rival.
