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Lula Calls New U.S. Tariffs a Mistake in Washington Post Op-Ed
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia /Economy & Trade

Lula Calls New U.S. Tariffs a Mistake in Washington Post Op-Ed

From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Opinion Named sources Context piece
  • Brazilian President Lula da Silva criticized new U.S. tariffs as a mistake.
  • He warned the tariffs would harm bilateral ties and increase costs for U.S. consumers.
  • Lula noted Brazil and Türkiye are heavily tariffed by the U.S., despite a trade surplus.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has labeled new U.S. tariffs as a strategic error that will damage the partnership between the two nations and raise prices for American consumers. In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Lula detailed the imposition of tariffs ranging from 12.5% to 37.5% on Brazil, which he stated occurred despite numerous meetings and technical arguments presented by his government.

This month, disregarding dozens of meetings between our teams, solid technical arguments, and documents I personally handed to President Trump, the US government imposed new tariffs on Brazil ranging from 12.5 percent to 37.5 percent.

— Lula da SilvaIn his opinion column for The Washington Post, detailing the U.S. government's imposition of new tariffs on Brazil.

Lula highlighted that these duties follow a previous U.S. Supreme Court decision on tariffs and will make a variety of products, including food, footwear, and auto parts, more expensive for Americans. He cited Global Trade Alert, an organization based in Switzerland, which ranks Brazil and Türkiye as the second most heavily tariffed countries by the U.S., surpassed only by China. This comes despite a consistent U.S. trade surplus with Brazil spanning 15 years.

In the medium term, these tariffs will disrupt supply chains that are currently deeply integrated, and Brazilian companies will replace their US suppliers with partners elsewhere.

— Lula da SilvaWarning about the potential consequences of the new U.S. tariffs on bilateral trade relationships.

The Brazilian president also pointed out that Brazilian exports to the U.S. have reached their lowest point since 1997. He cautioned that these tariffs could disrupt integrated supply chains, leading Brazilian companies to seek suppliers outside the U.S. Lula expressed Brazil's openness to constructive dialogue but firmly stated that Brazil's future should be determined by Brazilians alone, free from foreign interference.

Brazil's destiny is for Brazilians alone to determine, without foreign interference or subservience.

— Lula da SilvaAsserting Brazil's sovereignty in determining its own future amidst trade disputes.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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