Brazil’s socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Tuesday he will not negotiate with President Donald Trump on the 50-percent tariff the U.S. recently imposed on Brazilian exports. Instead, Lula said he plans to contact Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping and other BRICS allies while inviting Trump to a climate summit.
Lula dismissed talks with Trump, saying, “I am not going to call Trump to do business,” despite the tariff’s major impact on Brazil’s economy. Rather than seek trade discussions, Lula bizarrely expressed a desire to invite Trump to COP30, a climate conference Brazil is hosting this year, citing his interest in Trump’s climate views.
Lula added that he would reach out to Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for support but acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin “can’t travel” due to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. All three are leaders in BRICS, a bloc openly working to diminish American global influence.
Trump’s administration has emphasized renegotiating all major trade agreements. While countries like the UK and South Korea have reached new deals, Brazil has yet to initiate direct talks. Reports suggest Lula’s inner circle fears a diplomatic misstep like the one involving Ukraine’s president, whom Trump ejected from the White House earlier this year.
Trump has issued multiple warnings to BRICS nations. In November, he threatened 100-percent tariffs on any country supporting a BRICS currency to undermine the U.S. dollar. In July, he followed up by promising an additional 10-percent tariff on any country aligned with BRICS’s “anti-American policies.”
The 50-percent tariff on Brazil came with a formal declaration from the White House labeling Brazil a national security threat. The order cited censorship of conservative voices, legal persecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, and attacks on American tech companies operating in the country.
