Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva said that the United States imposed prices on his country, he will respond in kind.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Brasilia on Thursday, Lula said that her country was looking for a relationship based on mutual respect. His comments came in response to the threat of American president Donald Trump of increased prices.
“It’s very simple: if he taxed Brazilian products, there will be a reciprocity,” Lula told journalists.
“Trump was elected to lead the United States and I was elected to direct Brazil. I will respect the United States and I want Trump to respect Brazil. That’s it.
Comments are the last signal that Trump’s efforts can trigger a trade war with the American allies.
Lula’s position also offers a model on how other Latin American countries could react to Trump protectionist policies. Trump praised prices as a mechanism to stimulate the national industry, as well as to force international rivals to access requirements ranging from manufacturing to migration.
Earlier this week, Trump threatened great prices against Colombia when President Gustavo Petro initially refused to authorize an American military flight with undertaken immigrants to land.
Petro opposed the American treatment of immigrants, some of which would have been handcuffed.
After the two leaders exchanged prices threats comparison Between Trump and “White Slavers”.
But Trump has aroused the prospect of prices against other countries since the diplomatic ship.
On Thursday, for example, he told journalists that he planned to make the promise to impose 25% tariffs on neighboring countries in Canada and Mexico, two of the largest business partners in the United States.
“We don’t need the products they have,” said Trump.
Trump said the prices would encourage Mexico and Canada to tighten their border safety and stem the flow of drugs, migrants and asylum seekers. In the past, Trump has also threatened to make military strikes inside Mexico to deal with drug trafficking cartels that move fentanyl on the border.
Experts bind the growing shadow of prices with Trump’s declared desire to pursue a “America first” foreign policy, putting American interests above all.
Its remarks during its second inauguration on January 20 underlined this platform. Not only did he tease imminent prices “to enrich our citizens”, but he also presented an expansionist vision for the future of the United States, including by the seizure of the Panama Canal.
These threats, however, have not been well received in Latin America, where a long history of American interventions and interference remains resonant.
“I governed Brazil while the United States had republican presidents and democrats, and our relationship has always been between two sovereign countries,” said Lula, who began his third non-consecutive term in 2023 after having Beaten Trump Ally Jair Bolsonaro.
The United States has a trade deficit with Brazil, from which it bought products such as coffee, oil, steel, planes and orange juice.
Brazil, on the other hand, buys largely from American products such as energy products, pharmaceutical products and aircraft parts. According to Brazil Foreign Trade SecretariatThe country exported $ 337 billion in goods in the United States in 2024 and imported $ 262.5 billion.
But experts say that trade deficits are not necessarily a sign of an unhealthy economic relationship: they are affected by factors such as consumer demand and monetary values.
There are also fears that a trade war struck in the United States can allow other economic rivals to intervene.
China, for example, has widened its economic ties to South America in recent years, becoming the main trading partner for most countries in the region.
