The president of the Senate Foreign Relations and National Defense Commission, Senator Nelsinho Trad (PSD-MS), led, on Wednesday (23), a virtual meeting with Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, to align strategies of the Brazilian official mission to Washington. The trip, which will take place between July 29 and 31, aims to dialogue with parliamentarians and entrepreneurs from the United States about the 50% tariff imposed by the US government on Brazilian exports.
Also attending the meeting were the Brazilian Ambassador in the United States, Maria Luiza Viotti; The Secretary of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC), Tatiana Prazeres; Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, Pedro Guerra; in addition to diplomats involved in the articulation of the trip. The entourage is made up of eight senators and has institutional and suprapartisan character.
During the meeting, Chancellor Mauro Vieira detailed the Brazilian government’s recent efforts in interlocutions with the US private sector and US Treasury authorities. According to Vieira, the United States have maintained commercial surplus with Brazil in the last 15 years, which reinforces the Brazilian argument that there is no justification for tariffs. The minister also recalled that the contacts between the governments began even before the official announcement made by President Donald Trump in April.
Secretary Tatiana Prazeres said the government is mapping the sectors most affected by the measures, including agribusiness, mining, technology and perishable products. Alckmin’s chief of staff, Pedro Guerra, stressed that there is a consensus among the productive sectors about the importance of maintaining dialogue with the Americans. The mission, however, will not have the power of formal negotiation, the exclusive prerogative of the Executive Power.
Technical studies of the Foreign Committee show that new tariffs can compromise up to 1.9 million jobs in Brazil, with direct impact on states such as Sao Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso do Sul. In the United States, states such as California, Florida, Texas and New Jersey are also at risk of interruption in their productive chains, due to dependence on oil, meat, pulp and coffee. The expectation of the Brazilian government is to resolve the impasse until August 1, the expected date for the beginning of the collection of new tariffs.
