Trump meets privately with Brazil’s Lula, says progress made on tariff fight
President Trump said Thursday that progress has been made on possible new tariffs on Brazil after meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the White House.
“We discussed many topics, including trade and specifically tariffs,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the meeting “went very well.”
The president said representatives from the two countries would meet over the coming months to continue discussions.
Mr. Lula arrived at the White House early Thursday hoping to convince Mr. Trump not to impose new tariffs on his country. The two leaders were supposed to have part of their meeting held in public, but it was scuttled. Instead, Mr. Lula arrived quietly and left the White House without any media coverage.
Last year, Mr. Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods, one of the highest among U.S. importers. In hitting Brazil with such high tariffs, Mr. Trump evoked what he called a witch hunt against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was later convicted of attempting to overthrow democracy.
Mr. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison, although his lawyers appealed the sentence.
Mr. Trump then removed most taxes, including those on Brazilian beef and coffee, to calm rising food prices in the United States. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump under a national emergency law, eliminating most of the remaining levies.
Brazilian products are still subject to additional 10% tariffs that expire in July, but the Trump administration has signaled it could be hit with new tariffs linked to a Section 301 investigation into unfair trade practices.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said last month that nearly half of Brazil’s timber exports came from illegal sources, a claim Mr. Lula has denied, insisting his actions have reduced deforestation.
Brazilian officials met with U.S. Commerce Department officials two weeks ago and expressed concern that U.S. officials were asking few questions, according to media reports. This alarmed all of Brazil, saying the allegations were about an increase in customs duties rather than solving the problem.
“What they are doing is building a case, even if it is unfounded, to justify the subsequent adoption of customs duties,” a Brazilian official said, according to Reuters.
Mr Trump and Mr Lula met in Malaysia last year, but before the UN General Assembly in September the Brazilian president said he had “no relationship” with his US counterpart.
