Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva said that if the United States the tariff imposes In his country he will respond to Natura.
Speaking at a press conference in Brasilia’s capital, Lula said his country was looking for a connection based on mutual respect. His comments arrived in response to the threat of US President Donald Trump due to increased tariffs.
“That’s very simple: if it taxes of Brazilian products, there will be reciprocity,” Lula told reporters.
“Trump was chosen to run the US, and I was chosen to run Brazil. I’ll respect now and want Trump respect Brazil. That’s all.”
Comments are the latest signal that Trump’s efforts can encourage a trade war with us allies.
Pipe stop also offers a model how others Latin American countries It could respond to Trump’s protectionist policy. Trump has announced the tariffs as a mechanism for strengthening the domestic industry, as well as forcing international rivals to approach the requirements in the range from production to migration.
Earlier this week, Trump threatened with large tariffs Against Colombia, when President Gustavo Petro initially refused to allow an American military flight that bears the unfathomable immigrants to land.
Petro opposed American treatment of immigrants, some of whom were allegedly foxes.
After two leaders exchanged tariff threats, Petro gave up, allowing future flights to continue, despite implication a comparison between Trump and “white slaves”.
But Trump continued to throw out the chances of tariffs against other countries from diplomatic spit.
On Thursday, for example, he told reporters that he was planning to give good to the promise to impose 25 percent of tariffs to neighboring countries Canada and MexicoTwo largest American trading partners.
“We don’t need products they have,” Trump said.
Trump indicated that the tariffs would encourage Mexico and Canada to tighten their border security and stop the flow of drugs, migrants and asylum seekers. In the past, Trump also threatened to perform the military strikes Inside Mexico, to deal with cartels that trade drugs moving fentanil across the border.
Experts bind a growing shadow of tariffs with Trump’s desire to continue the foreign policy of “America’s first”, putting American interests above all else.
His remarks on the second inauguration on January 20 emphasized that platform. Not only did he tease the upcoming tariffs “to enrich our citizens,” but he also set up an expansionist vision of the future of the US, including the subtraction of the Panaman Channel.
These threats, however, are not well received in Latin America, where long history of American interventions and mixing remains resonant.
“I managed Brazil while the US had Republican and Democratic presidents, and our relationship was always between two sovereign countries,” said Lula, who began his third uniform mandate on duty in 2023 after defeating Trump Ally Jair Bolsonaro.
Now they have a trade deficit with Brazil, from which it buys products such as coffee, oil, steel, aircraft and orange juice.
Brazil, meanwhile, is mostly buying American goods such as energy products, pharmaceutical goods and aircraft parts. According to Brazilian External trade secretariatIn 2024, the country made $ 337 billion in the United States and introduced $ 262.5 billion.
But experts say that a trade deficit is not necessarily a sign of an unhealthy economic relationship: they are influenced by factors such as consumer demand and currency values.
There are also fears that the trade war that was in the US could strengthen other economic rivals to step.
China, for example, expanded its economic connections With South America in recent years, becoming a major trading partner in most countries in the region.
