After around 45 minutes of conversation between the presidents of the United States, Donald Trump, and Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and friendly statements from both sides, negotiations regarding customs tariffs on Brazilian products still have a long way to go until an actual agreement is reached. This means that the 50% tariffs applied since the beginning of August by the USA to Brazil remain in force, with no plans to be revoked.
Unlike other countries – such as Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia itself – which signed trade agreements with Trump in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday (26), Brazil did not achieve a concrete result, despite the cordial tone of the US president and the promise of new talks between the technical teams of the American and Brazilian governments, the first of which is expected for Sunday.
“Trump declared that he will instruct his team to begin a bilateral negotiation process, which should begin today [domingo] yet – since everything is supposed to be resolved in a short time”, said Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, who participated in the meeting between Lula and Trump in Malaysia, during the Leaders’ Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Trump’s friendly statements
Before the closed-door conversation, Lula and Trump spoke to the Brazilian and American press. The US president declared that the tariffs imposed on Brazil can be negotiated “very quickly”, without however revealing the terms that could lead to this outcome. “I think we will be able to reach the very good agreements that we have been talking about, and I think we will end up having a very good relationship,” he said.
Asked by a reporter whether he would address the conviction of former Brazilian president Jair Messias Bolsonaro in the conversation, Trump replied that it was “none of his business.” Concerned about the scope of the agenda to be discussed in a short time at the meeting, Lula asked for the press conference to be closed.
The American government did not release details about the conversation and Trump also did not comment on the matter on his social networks. The Brazilian chancellor, Mauro Vieira, was the one who told journalists some excerpts from the meeting. According to him, in the conversation, which was “very relaxed, even happy”, Trump said that he admires Lula’s career and that he intends to visit Brazil.
“The presidents dealt with all matters. President Lula began by saying that there was no prohibited subject and renewed the Brazilian request to suspend tariffs imposed on Brazilian exports during the negotiation period, in the same way as the recourse to the Magnitsky Law, and said that he was willing to talk. The final balance is great”, he guaranteed.
White House did not comment
This Sunday, the White House released a series of joint statements on reciprocal trade agreements reached by the United States during Trump’s trip to Kuala Lumpur, involving tariffs applied to Cambodia, Thailand and host Malaysia. Regarding the meeting with Lula, however, there was no statement.
The American government also announced that Trump’s public agenda for the day has already been completed.
Negotiations continue
According to Brazilian participants at the meeting, Lula’s main argument for revoking the tariff against Brazil was the absence of a surplus in the United States and the excellent historical diplomatic relationship between the countries. According to Mauro Vieira, a new meeting between government representatives should take place this Sunday night in Malaysia, but the location and time have not been defined.
“I had a great meeting with President Trump this Sunday afternoon, in Malaysia. We discussed the bilateral trade and economic agenda in a frank and constructive way. We agreed that our teams will meet immediately to move forward in the search for solutions to the tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian authorities”, declared Lula, at X, after the meeting.
Although before the meeting, Trump said he was “bothered” by the penalties against Bolsonaro – which were used as justification for imposing tariffs on Brazil -, the topic was not on the meeting’s agenda, according to the Brazilian government.
Resolution in weeks?
Despite Brazil’s expectation of resolving the issue in “weeks”, as Mauro Vieira told journalists, dialogue between other important US trading partners on the topic has been going on for months. This is the case of Canada, whose long ongoing negotiations were ended by Trump this weekend, after the airing of an advertisement in Ontario that contained a “selective” speech by former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. In response, Trump applied an additional 10% tax on his neighbor, who was already facing 35% tariffs on some products.
Another factor hindering an agreement with Brazil must be the figure of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, appointed by Trump at the beginning of the month to lead future bilateral negotiations with the country. International analysts argue that the choice of Rubio as negotiator – a critic of Lula and Latin American dictatorships – is “the hardest path possible for Brazil”, in other words, the Brazilian government must deal with a difficult representative, who must make demanding requests.
“Flashy diplomacy” vs. harsh treatment
Trump’s trade war has also seen long chapters of negotiations with China. After a truce in the escalation of tensions and several rounds of meetings between teams from both countries, last week Trump once again threatened the Asian giant with tariffs of 155% from November 1st, if they cannot reach an agreement.
To the American newspaper New York TimesChina’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang said the two sides reached a preliminary consensus on a range of issues during bilateral meetings in Malaysia.
Despite Trump’s attempt to present a “friendly face to a part of the world that has been shaken by his aggressive tariffs” on this trip to Southeast Asia and “flashy diplomacy”, the Times analyzed that, it appears, “for the most part the substance of his administration’s approach to its allies in the Indo-Pacific has not changed.”
In negotiations reached with Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia this weekend, for example, the countries maintained the 19% tariff imposed by Trump at the beginning of his term. The agreements, however, contain commitments from the three countries to help the United States contain China, on which many Southeast Asian countries depend.
