Brazil should not give up seeking to make an alternative to the dollar as a currency to do international trade, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday during a 50% tariff that the United States (US) imposed against the country. About 36% of Brazilian exports were taxed through the White House. 
“I will not give up thinking that we need to try to build an alternative currency so that we can negotiate with other countries. I do not need to be subordinate to the dollar,” said the Brazilian president.
Although the US does not directly cite the replacement of the dollar in global trade as a reason for taxation in Brazil, Analysts have pointed out that this proposal under discussion at BRICS It is behind Donald Trump’s action.
During the BRICS summit, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), between July 6 and 7, Trump criticized the block and promised retaliation countries that replace the dollar in commerce. The use of the dollar as an international currency gives a competitive advantage to the US in the global economy.
In Convention of the Workers Party (PT), in Brasilia, Lula pointed out that Brazil does not want to challenge the US, but that the country has strategic interests that needs to defend. The president stated that Brazil is not a “republish” that wants to negotiate on equal terms.
“The US is very big, it is the most warm country in the world, it is the most technological country in the world, it is the country with the largest economy in the world. All this is very important. But we want to be respected by our size. We have economic and strategic interests. We want to grow. And we are not a republishing. Trying to put a political subject to taxing us economically is unacceptable.
Lula referred to the US criticism of the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro for attempted coup d’état, one of the reasons named by Trump to tax Brazil.
Diplomatic relations
The Brazilian president, on the other hand, added that the government is still open to negotiations with the US and that, although the US country no longer has the same economic importance it has had for Brazil, diplomatic relations must be preserved.
“Brazil today is not as dependent as it was from the United States. Brazil has a very wide business relationship worldwide. We are much quieter from the economic point of view. But, of course, that I will not fail to understand the importance of diplomatic relationship with the United States, which has lasted 201 years,” he said.
Lula also said that the government will work to defend companies and workers affected by the tariff while leaving the door open for negotiations with the White House.
“Let’s say the following, ‘look, when you want to negotiate, the proposals are at the table. In fact, [vice-presidente] Alckmin and by [ministro das relações exteriores] Mauro Vieira. So that’s just that, ”he said.
Negotiations
After the formalization of the tariff, the US Treasury Secretariat contacted the Ministry of Finance to Start negotiations. Last Friday (1st), the President Donald Trump said he is willing to talk to President Lula.
According to Haddad, the government should announce, in the coming days, a package of measures with credit lines for companies affected by Trump’s tariff.
