Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urged U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call on Monday to remove the 40% tariff the U.S. has placed on Brazilian imports.
During the call, Lula invited Trump to attend the upcoming climate summit in Belém, as reported by Associated Press.
Lula called the meeting a chance to ‘restore’ friendly ties between ‘the two largest Western democracies’ and emphasized that the U.S. holds a trade surplus with Brazil. He then called for a rollback of tariffs to the initial 10% rate and urged the removal of sanctions against certain Brazilian officials.
Relations between the U.S. and Brazil have sharply deteriorated due to Trump’s push to pressure Brazilian authorities to drop the coup case against his far-right ally, Jair Bolsonaro.
In August, the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports, partly in response to what President Trump described as a ‘witch hunt’ against Brazil’s former president, Bolsonaro, who faced allegations of attempting to retain power after losing the 2022 election to Lula.
U.S. attempts to obstruct Bolsonaro’s prosecution, including sanctions on Brazilian officials and the revocation of visas, were unsuccessful. On September 11, Bolsonaro was found guilty and sentenced to 27 years in prison by the Supreme Court.
Brazil’s presidential office reiterated that Trump and Lula “recalled the good chemistry felt in New York.”
Later, Trump shared on Truth Social that the conversation was focused on the economy and trade between the two countries.
“We will be having further discussions and will get together in the not-too-distant future, both in Brazil and the United States,” he added.
Trump has designated U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lead further negotiations with Brazil’s vice president, foreign minister, and finance minister.
Lula also conveyed his openness to travel to Washington for further talks with Trump, following their recent meeting at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this month.
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