Lula and Prime Minister of India seek integration against “tariff”

Last Wednesday (6), President Donald Trump raised commercial tariffs for India imported products by 25%, which made the total fare to 50%, the same percentage that affects part of Brazilian exports. On the same day, the surcharge began to apply in Brazil and President Lula stated that he would seek a common understanding among BRICS members on US tariff impositions.

It was not long before and this Thursday (7), the president of Brazil has already contacted India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Planalto, the call between the leaders of the two nations most impacted by the “tariff” lasted about an hour.

In the dialogue, the leaders dealt with the results of Modi’s state visit to Brazil in July and talked about the international economic scenario and the imposition of unilateral tariffs by the Americans.

According to the note released, both “reaffirmed the importance of defending multilateralism and the need to face the challenges of the conjuncture, as well as exploiting possibilities of greater integration between the two countries.”

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In this sense, they stressed the goal of increasing bilateral trade between Brazil and India to $ 20 billion by 2030. In a speech on July 8, at Planalto Palace, at the time of the Indian visit, Lula pointed out that the current $ 12 billion trade flow “is not up to” the economies of the countries.

According to the note, to achieve these goals for greater integration, the representatives “agreed to broaden the coverage of the agreement between Mercosur and India” and even exchanged information on the “virtual payment platforms of both countries, including PIX and UPI (UPIED Payments Interface).”

Visit to India

It was also agreed that in early 2026, Lula will make a state visit to the Asian country. As a preview of the meeting, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Ministers of State will go to India in October to attend the Trade Monitoring Mechanism meeting.

“The delegation will have Brazilian ministers and entrepreneurs to deal with cooperation in the commercial area, defense, energy, critical minerals, health and digital inclusion,” says the government’s communication.

Tariffs

The announcement of a surcharge against Indian products was accompanied by a controversial justification of President Trump, who may extend to other countries. On social networks, he said he would take the measure, because the country has bought Russian oil.

This justification to double the rate, which was already 25%, and now reached 50%, is related to the embargo that the US, the European Union, other G7 countries and Australia employ against Russia for the war with Ukraine.

Now Trump endangers the relationship with a market that has 1.45 billion inhabitants, which represents the most populous country in the world.

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In 2024, commercial flow between India and USA was in the $ 190 billion. As for the trade balance, the Indians had a surplus of $ 45.7 billion last year.

With the surcharge scheduled to start on August 27, the understanding is that the Asian country would lose the commercial advantage, which would pass some clearance to the American side-estimates for a 35% surcharge pointed to a loss of $ 64 billion to Modian land, according to the Reuters. Nevertheless, India exports have low exposure within its economy, limiting the direct impact on the country’s growth.