The meeting between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the President of the United States (USA), Donald Trump, marked the “most important step” in the rapprochement between the two countries, said this Monday (27) the acting president and Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB).
The meeting took place on Sunday (26), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and was the first direct dialogue between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House. According to Alckmin, the political gesture paved the way to unlock negotiations on tariffs, investments and economic cooperation.
“The political step was taken with brilliance and praise. Now it is time to advance on the technical side and establish the work agenda”, Alckmin told journalists, in an interview at the entrance of the Vice-Presidency of the Republic, in Brasília.
Priority is the end of pricing
The vice president reaffirmed that the Brazilian government’s main priority is the removal of the 40% surcharge applied by the United States to national products since August. Alckmin once again said that the measure, which affects industrial and agribusiness sectors, is considered “inadequate”.
“These 10% tariffs [impostas em abril] plus 40% [impostas no fim de julho] are completely disproportionate. The average tariff from Brazil to the United States is just 2.7%. We need to resolve this quickly,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Development, around 34% of the US$40 billion exported by Brazil to the USA last year were impacted by surcharges. In July, the ministry had announced that the percentage had stood at 35.9%, but the number was revised slightly downwards.
The government is now working on two fronts: asking for the temporary suspension of tariffs during technical negotiations and expanding the list of exempt products. Among the items that Brazil is trying to include in the list of exceptions is coffee, currently subject to a tariff of up to 50%.
According to the acting president, the support of the American private sector for the end of tariffs will be decisive in reversing the measure.
“The government made a specific request, but American companies have great interest [em exportar para o Brasil]as well as Brazilian companies have a great interest in exporting to the United States. Private sector participation is important. It helps a lot in solving the problem,” he declared.
Negotiations and next steps
Alckmin coordinates the group responsible for negotiations with Washington, alongside the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, and Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad. The expectation is that technical teams from both countries will meet in the coming weeks.
During a trip to Japan this Monday, Trump classified the meeting with Lula, which took place on Sunday (26) in Malaysia, as “very good”. The American president, however, avoided promising an immediate end to the tariffs. “I don’t know if anything is going to happen, but we’ll see. They would like to make a deal,” Trump said.
Lula, in turn, stated that Brazil and the United States must “make a good agreement” in the next rounds of negotiations.
Datacenters
In addition to the tariff agenda, Alckmin highlighted that the two governments discuss non-tariff issues, such as the installation of data centers in Brazil and the attraction of investments in renewable energy.
The vice president once again defended the approval of the provisional measure for data centerspublished in September, which creates rules for the sector and is considered essential to attract foreign capital.
“This initiative can attract investment, especially given the global energy shortage. Brazil has an abundance of clean and renewable sources,” he said.
New diplomatic phase
Alckmin ended the interview by classifying the gesture between Lula and Trump as “a political milestone that repositions Brazil on the international stage”.
“It was a very important rapprochement between the two largest democracies in the West. Now an important phase begins to deepen ties and seek concrete opportunities”, he concluded.
