Brazil’s Lula says any US tariffs would be reciprocated

The Brazilian person says helium is looking for a narration based connected communal respect aft Trump threatens tariffs.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that, if the United States imposes tariffs connected his country, helium volition respond successful kind.

Speaking astatine a quality league successful the superior Brasilia, connected Thursday, Lula said his state seeks a narration based connected communal respect. His comments came successful effect to US President Donald Trump’s menace of heightened tariffs.

“It is precise simple: If helium taxes Brazilian products, determination volition beryllium reciprocity,” Lula told reporters.

“Trump was elected to tally the US, and I was elected to tally Brazil. I volition respect the US and privation Trump to respect Brazil. That’s all.”

The comments are the latest awesome that Trump’s efforts whitethorn spark a commercialized warfare with US allies.

Lula’s stance besides offers a exemplary for however different Latin American countries mightiness respond to Trump’s protectionist policies. Trump has touted tariffs arsenic a mechanics to boost home industry, arsenic good arsenic to unit planetary rivals to accede to demands ranging from manufacturing to migration.

Earlier this week, Trump threatened ample tariffs against Colombia erstwhile President Gustavo Petro initially refused to let a US subject formation bearing undocumented immigrants to land.

Petro objected to the US attraction of the immigrants, immoderate of whom were reportedly handcuffed.

After the 2 leaders exchanged tariff threats, Petro backed down, allowing aboriginal flights to proceed, contempt implying a comparison betwixt Trump and “white slavers”.

But Trump has proceeded to dangle the imaginable of tariffs against different countries since the diplomatic spat.

On Thursday, for instance, helium told reporters that helium planned to marque bully connected a committedness to enforce 25 percent tariffs connected the neighbouring countries of Canada and Mexico, 2 of the US’s biggest trading partners.

“We don’t request the products that they have,” Trump said.

Trump has indicated the tariffs would incentivise Mexico and Canada to tighten their borderline information and stem the travel of drugs, migrants and asylum seekers. In the past, Trump has besides threatened to transportation retired military strikes wrong of Mexico to woody with drug-trafficking cartels that determination fentanyl implicit the border.

Experts necktie the mounting shadiness of tariffs to Trump’s stated tendency to prosecute an “America First” overseas policy, putting US interests supra each else.

His remarks astatine his 2nd inauguration connected January 20 emphasised that platform. Not lone did helium tease impending tariffs “to enrich our citizens”, but helium besides laid retired an expansionist imaginativeness for the US’s future, including done the seizure of the Panama Canal.

Those threats, however, person not been good received successful Latin America, wherever a agelong past of US interventions and meddling remains resonant.

“I person governed Brazil portion the US had Republican and Democratic presidents, and our narration has ever been betwixt 2 sovereign countries,” said Lula, who began his 3rd non-consecutive word successful bureau successful 2023 aft defeating Trump state Jair Bolsonaro.

The US has a commercialized shortage with Brazil, from which it buys products specified arsenic coffee, oil, steel, craft and orangish juice.

Brazil, meanwhile, mostly purchases US goods similar vigor products, pharmaceutical goods and craft parts. According to Brazil’s Foreign Trade Secretariat, the state exported $337bn successful goods to the US successful 2024, and imported $262.5bn.

But experts accidental commercialized deficits are not needfully a motion of an unhealthy economical relationship: They are affected by factors specified arsenic user request and currency values.

There are besides fears that a US-sparked commercialized warfare could empower different economical rivals to measurement in.

China, for example, has expanded its economic ties with South America successful caller years, becoming the superior trading spouse for astir countries successful the region.

Source

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies