Brazil President Lula says that Trump “was not elected to be …

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reacted to Donald Trump’s tariff threats, stating that his American counterpart was elected as the leader of the United States and “not to be the world emperor”.

Last week, Trump threatened Brazil with 50% paralyzing rates from 1 August, according to a letter published on his social media platform, Truth Social.

In the letter, Trump connected the threat of astronomical rates to that which he described as a “witches hunt” process against the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, a close ally of Trump, is facing a trial in Brazil for presumably attempting to overthrow Lula following his presidential victory in 2022.

He could face more than four decades behind the bars if declared guilty of having added the coup.

Speaking exclusively with Christiane Amanpour of the CNN Thursday, from Silva, widely known as Lula, he said that Trump’s threats had detached themselves from the “protocol” and argued that the fate of his predecessor cannot be part of commercial negotiations.

“The judicial branch of power in Brazil is independent. The President of the Republic has no influence,” he added, adding that Bolsonaro “is not judged personally. He is judged by the documents that has tried to organize a coup”.

Bolsonaro denied all the accusations of offenses.

‘I thought it was false news’

Speaking through an interpreter, Lula also expressed disappointment for the Trump approach, saying at the beginning that it could not believe that the post on social media of the President of the United States was authentic.

“He was very unpleasant,” he said to Amanpour. “I thought it was false news.”

Brazil has now promised mutual rates if Trump follows his threat, for the first time for months another country has called Trump’s bluff.

“Brazil must take care of Brazil and take care of the Brazilian people and not take themselves in order not to deal with the interests of others,” said Lula, adding: “Brazil will not accept anything imposed. We accept negotiation and non -imposition”.

Unlike the over 20 other countries that have received letters from Trump this month, the United States managed a commercial surplus of $ 6.8 billion with Brazil last year.

Announcement

This means that the United States exported more goods to Brazil than imported from there – an imbalance that should already satisfy Trump’s commercial agenda.

The best US exports to Brazil in 2024 included aircraft and space vehicles, fuels, industrial machinery such as nuclear reactors and electrical equipment, according to the US census Bureau data.

A Brazilian rate of 50% of retaliation on American goods could seriously damage these industries.

Still open to negotiation
However, Lula stressed his will to reach an agreement with Washington on Thursday, saying that it is up to Trump “seriously” to take the negotiations into consideration and hopes that the President of the United States will change his mind.

“I am not a progressive president. I am the president of Brazil. I do not see the president Trump as a far-right president. I see him how the president of the United States was elected by the American people,” said the former work organizer in Amanpour, rejecting the possibility that their ideological background could emerge negotiations.

“The best thing in the world is that we sit around a table and speak,” he added.

“If President Trump is willing to take the current negotiations between Brazil and the United States seriously, then I will be open to negotiate everything that might be necessary. But what is important is that the relationship between the two countries cannot continue like this,” he said.

⁹ Thursday, the United States started an investigation on what they called “unjust” commercial practices by Brazil, intensifying the spit with the tenth world economy.

The investigation will focus on commercial and digital electronic and electronic services, preferential rates and anti -corruption interference, as well as on the protection of intellectual property, to determine whether there are “unreasonable or discriminatory and charges or limit” American trade, according to a declaration by the commercial representative of the United States (USTR).

It will also examine access to the Aannerol market and illegal deforestation.

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