US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held a “constructive” meeting on Sunday at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, with both sides committing their teams to immediate negotiations aimed at resolving tariffs and sanctions placed on Brazil.
The development signals a potential thaw in what had been a tense trade and diplomatic standoff, after the US imposed steep tariffs on Brazilian exports linking them to political issues in Brazil.
Brazil’s president described their discussion as “great,” and said that “our teams will meet immediately to advance the search for solutions to the tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian authorities.” Meanwhile, Trump told reporters he believed the two countries “should be able to make some pretty good deals for both countries.”
In August the US raised tariffs on most Brazilian goods from 10 percent to 50 percent, a decision Trump linked to what he called a “witch hunt” against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of Trump.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said his country has formally asked for a pause in US tariffs during the negotiations and expressed hope that “we hope to conclude bilateral negotiations … in the near future, in a few weeks.”
The tariff standoff has already disrupted global supply chains: higher US duties on Brazilian goods raised US consumer prices and diverted trade flows to countries such as Mexico while boosting Brazilian goods heading to markets like China.
Lula previously characterized the recent U.S. tariff hike as a “mistake,” arguing that it unfairly penalizes Brazilian exports despite the long-standing trade imbalance in Washington’s favor. He pointed out that, over the past 15 years, the United States has accumulated a trade surplus of roughly US $410 billion with Brazil — a figure he cited to emphasize that Brazil has not been the beneficiary of its economic relationship with the U.S., but rather the opposite. According to Lula, such measures undermine efforts to promote fair trade and cooperation between the two nations.
If negotiations move quickly, both governments will monitor whether Brazil secures relief from tariffs and whether the US obtains commitments from Brazil on issues beyond trade, including regional matters such as Venezuela, which Lula offered to help mediate.
Africa Digital News, New York
