Lula Blames Marco Rubio for US Trade Tensions, Calls Him 'Anti-Latin American'

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has directly blamed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the recent escalation in trade tensions between Brazil and the United States. Lula differentiated his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, stating they maintain mutual respect and have discussed bilateral stability, but directed his criticism towards the State Department's diplomatic approach.

"He (Trump) has a citizen who doesn't like Brazil, who doesn't like Latin America... the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. He is an anti-Latin American, or a frustrated Latin American. (...) He is a descendant of Cubans from Miami, so he hates Cuba, he hates Colombia, he hates Brazil, and he does things differently from what we discussed with Trump," Lula stated.

The Brazilian leader's remarks follow the U.S. imposition of a 25% additional tariff on a range of Brazilian imports starting July 22. Washington cited alleged unfair trade practices and tolerance of illegal deforestation as justifications for the tariffs.

Lula questioned the environmental justification for the tariffs, noting that his government achieved a 37% reduction in deforestation alerts in the Amazon region between 2025 and 2026. He announced that Brazil would send technical reports to the White House to counter the State Department's arguments. Despite the tariff, the U.S. measure includes exemptions for approximately 2,100 Brazilian product categories, including key goods like meat, coffee, oil, fish, and rare earth elements, to mitigate market disruptions.