The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has requested that President Donald Trump lift the tariffs on Brazilian imports and penalties against Brazilian officials, as the two leaders had a so-called “friendly” video meeting, exchanging phone numbers after several months of hostility.
The relationship between the US and Brazil has hit a new low following the Trump campaign to make Brazilian officials drop the coup case against his far-right supporter, Jair Bolsonaro.
The US imposed 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian imports in August, in part because of what Trump defined as the “witch-hunt” against the Brazilian former president, who was alleged to have attempted to seize power after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula.
The US efforts of derailing Bolsonaro’s prosecution, which also involved sanctioning Brazilian officials and visa revocation, did not succeed. The Supreme Court convicted and sentenced Bolsonaro to serve 27 years in prison on 11 September.
Trump seemingly offered an olive branch to Lula at the UN General Assembly in New York after a fortnight. It was reported that “He seemed like a very nice man, actually,” Trump said of his leftwing counterpart after a brief backstage encounter during which the US president claimed there had been “excellent chemistry.”
This was the first protracted meeting on Monday between Trump and Lula since the former resumed his White House post in January.
Finance Minister of Brazil, Fernando Haddad, who also participated in the half-minute call, told reporters about the meeting, stating as “It was positive.”
Brazil’s presidency in a statement reported that Trump and Lula had “recalled the good chemistry felt in New York” and “exchanged phone numbers to establish a direct channel of communication”.
Trump on his Truth Social platform posted that “a very good” exchange, adding: “I enjoyed the call – Our Countries will do very well together!”
Lula termed the discussion as “an opportunity to restore the friendly 201-year relationship between the West’s two biggest democracies” and requested the US to withdraw tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian officials.
Lula further added that he hoped to be able to meet Trump personally, perhaps at a summit in Malaysia later this month, or by travelling to the US.
He renewed his invitation to the president of the US to visit the November COP30 climate summit in the Amazon city of Belém.
Trump stated, “We discussed many things, but it was mostly focused on the Economy and Trade between our two Countries. We will be having further discussions and will get together in the not too distant future, both in Brazil and the United States.”
The International Relations Professor of Getúlio Vargas Foundation in Brazil, Matias Spektor, responded that it was too early to conclude the rift between Brasilia and Washington, “All we know is that Trump is willing to talk and that Lula is willing to talk as well.”
It was not clear whether Trump brought up the case of Bolsonaro at the time of the call, but in any case, Spektor told him that Lula had nothing to provide the US president regarding the same. It was reported that “Lula simply cannot deliver any changes in the way the supreme court treats Bolsonaro … even if he wanted to.”
Nevertheless, Spektor thought that one of the potential areas in which Brazil could assist Trump was in Haiti. The US-backed plans to have a thousand-strong “Gang Suppression Force” were passed by the UN Security Council last week to address the crisis in the Caribbean state.
Not much more than two decades later, Spektor asked himself whether Brazilian boots could once more be observed on the ground in Port-au-Prince.
Spektor added, “I may well be very wrong … It could be the case that nobody in the [Lula] administration wants to burn their fingers with this.”
He further stated, “[But] Haiti is one instance in which the demand coming from the White House could be met by Brazil – and it’s something Brazil has done in the past and … that Lula could present as Brazil’s contribution to world order, stability and peace at a time at which things are so messy.”
“And if this is an area where Lula can do something that Trump will appreciate, this is where you have a bridge between Trump and Lula … The stars could align,” Spektor said.
