The Vice President of the Republic and Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, said on Monday (29) that he is optimistic about negotiations with the US government about the 50% tariff against Brazilian exports.
The positive expectation is for the brief meeting of the President of the Republic, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the president of the United States, Donald Trump, during the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in New York last week. At the time, The American agent said he would meet Lula to talk and that there was a “chemistry between them”.
“With this good meeting, as President Trump said, who gave a chemistry between him and President Lula, I think we will have new steps and have good arguments, because Brazil is no problem for the US, which has surplus in the trade balance with Brazil,” the vice president said in an interview with CBN radio.
According to Alckmin, There is no meeting scheduled between Lula and Trump, but there is optimism, and the conversation has been happening for a few months.
“And 15 days ago, there was an executive order that put zero fare for cellulose and nickel iron,” he added. “As we export a lot of cellulose, this is equivalent to $ 1.7 billion. We exported last year to the US $ 40 billion. So 4% of Brazilian export was zeroed.”
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The minister and vice president believes that Brazilian arguments are extremely favorable and there is a possibility of reciprocal investment between US and Brazil.
“Many Brazilian companies also want to invest in the United States. So it’s a win-win, and that’s what we want. We are confident that there will be a good conversation between President Lula and President Trump and that this can unlock to move forward.”
For Alckmin, it is also possible that, as conversations happen, it is also advanced regarding the sanctions applied by the US government against Brazilian authorities. “I have no details about it, but I think the opening and advancement of dialogue will greatly improve the relationship between Brazil and the United States,” he said.
Even so, Alckmin stressed that the Brazilian government has been working to diversify markets, enable exporters and make more commercial agreements.
“The [acordo] Mercosur/Singapore, Mercosu Sul/EFTA, and by the end of the year we must sign the Mercosur/European Union. Within 15 days, I’m going to India, which has 1.4 billion people and grows to 6.5% per year. ”
The vice president also commented on the international interest in the rare lands of Brazil and said that a geological survey of minerals and Brazilian potential is needed. The second stage is exploration, to add value to Brazil.
“The big challenge is to have the entire production chain and integrate these chains, because we have many possibilities for productive integration.”
