Brazil invokes ‘Reciprocity Law’ as Trump imposes 50% tariff; President Lula says ‘will not accept tutelage’
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday vowed to address the import tariffs imposed by Donald Trump with reciprocity under the the country’s economic reciprocity law.
President Lula’s public statement on X comes hours after Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports following a spat with his Brazilian counterpart, accusing the country of launching a ‘witch hunt’ against former President Jair Bolsonaro.
“Any unilateral tariff increases will be addressed in accordance with Brazil’s Economic Reciprocity Law,” Lula said in his post on X.
Junking Trump’s claim, the Brazilian President said there was no trade deficit with the US.
“The claim regarding a U.S. trade deficit in its commercial relationship with Brazil is inaccurate. Statistics from the U.S. government itself show a surplus of $410 billion in the trade of goods and services with Brazil over the past 15 years.”
Reacting to Trump’s ‘witch hunt’ comment on Bolsonaro, Lula said that the judicial proceedings against those responsible for planning a coup d’état fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian judicial office and “are not subject to any interference or threats that could compromise the independence of national institutions.”
“Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not accept any form of tutelage,” he wrote in the lengthy statement.
Brazil summons top US diplomat
Tensions between the United States and Brazil had already intensified on Wednesday after Brazil’s foreign ministry summoned the US Embassy chargé d’affaires Gabriel Escobar over a statement defending Bolsonaro, as per a Reuters report. The US Embassy in Brasilia confirmed on Wednesday its chargé d’affaires had a meeting with officials from Brazil’s foreign ministry, though it declined to share details about the conversation.
According to a report by The New York Times, the top US diplomat was summoned again for the second time on Wednesday — this time over Trump’s tariff letter.
An official source quoted by NYT said Brazil had not yet received the letter Trump posted, and summoned Escobar to confirm the same. When he confirmed, Brazilian officials said they were “rejecting” the letter “because it was offensive and inaccurate.”
Lula’s statement came after that. Brazil had not been among those threatened with these higher duties previously.