Lula reacts to Trump’s fare with firm grade and triggers reciprocity law

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva responded on Wednesday night (9) to the letter sent by Donald Trump announcing a 50% tariff over all Brazilian exports to the United States.

Lula stated that Brazil is a sovereign country, with independent institutions, and that any tariff measure imposed unilaterally will be answered based on the economic reciprocity law, approved by Congress in April this year.

Hours earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already summoned the interim chief of the US embassy Gabriel Escobar twice.

In the text published at 7:56 pm on social networks and on the official website of the Planalto Palace, President Lula called the US government’s allegations on an alleged commercial deficit and firmly rejected the hints of political persecution to former President Jair Bolsonaro.

“Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being protected by anyone,” says the presidential note.

Lula also stressed that the judgment of those involved in the attempted coup d’état of 2022 is the exclusive jurisdiction of the Brazilian judiciary and is not subject to “any interference or threat that makes the independence of national institutions.”

The demonstration responds directly to Trump’s accusation in the letter, according to which former President Bolsonaro was being the victim of an “international shame” and a “witch hunt.”

By addressing Trump’s criticism of the Federal Supreme Court’s decisions involving digital platforms, the note states that freedom of expression in Brazil is not confused with violent practices, hatred speech or criminal content. “To operate in our country, all national and foreign companies are submitted to Brazilian law,” says the statement.

The president also countered the economic argument that would underlie the new fare. According to Lula, the official data of the United States demonstrate that the country has an accumulated surplus of US $ 410 billion in the balance of goods and services with Brazil in the last 15 years – dismantling, according to him, “false information” used to justify the measure.

Read also: Trump announces 50% tariff for Brazilian products

Letter is returned and Brazilian diplomacy reacts firmly

The Brazilian response to Trump’s diplomatic offensive was not restricted to the presidential note. Throughout Wednesday, Itamaraty twice summoned the interim chief of the US Embassy in Brazil, Gabriel Escobar, in an explicit demonstration of discontent with the content of the letter released by Trump and the stance of the US diplomatic mission in Brasilia.

At the first meeting in the morning, Escobar was called to explain an official note published by the US embassy, ​​which endorsed Trump’s statements and claimed that Bolsonaro and his family were victims of “political persecution.”

A few hours later, late in the afternoon, the Brazilian Chancellery again summoned the diplomat – this time, to formally communicate the Lula government’s dissatisfaction with the escalation of the conflict and to symbolically return the letter signed by Trump.

The return of the document, unusual gesture in bilateral relations, was interpreted by diplomats as a clear sign that the Brazilian government considers the tone of the American message unacceptable.

In the letter, Trump calls Bolsonaro’s trial “international shame,” says the Supreme Court has issued “secret and illegal orders” against Big Techs from the US and threatens Brazil with more tariffs if they adopt any form of retaliation.

Sought by the press, the US embassy merely said that Escobar participated in meetings with authorities of the Brazilian government and that, by internal policy, “does not comment on private diplomatic conversations.”

Also read: Attack on Sovereignty: Itamaraty reacts to US support to Bolsonaro

Lula’s letter in full

Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept to be protected by anyone.

The judicial proceedings against those who planned the coup d’état is of jurisdiction only of the Brazilian justice and, therefore, is not subject to any kind of interference or threat that was independent of national institutions.

In the context of digital platforms, Brazilian society rejects hate content, racism, child pornography, blows, fraud, discourses against human rights and democratic freedom.

In Brazil, freedom of expression is not confused with aggression or violent practices. To operate in our country, all national and foreign companies are subject to Brazilian law.

Information is false, in the case of the commercial relationship between Brazil and the United States, about the alleged US deficit. The statistics of the United States government itself prove a surplus of this country in the trade of goods and services with Brazil around $ 410 billion over the last 15 years.

In this sense, any measure of unilateral tariff elevation will be answered in the light of the Brazilian Economic Reciprocity Law.

Sovereignty, respect and uncompromising defense of the interests of the Brazilian people are the values ​​that guide our relationship with the world.