July 23 (UPI) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said his government will continue negotiating with the United States despite an additional 25% U.S. tariff on Brazilian products.
Lula also said his country will seek to expand exports to other markets if the talks fail.
Speaking during the launch of the third phase of the Brasil Soberano III program Wednesday, Lula rejected Washington’s claims that Brazil has been unwilling to negotiate and said his administration has submitted multiple proposals to reach an agreement.
“We are sitting at the negotiating table. We proposed that negotiating table, and we have already sent several documents and several proposals,” Lula said. “We never found reciprocity in the discussions.”
The president insisted that Brazil will not walk away from dialogue with Washington.
“We are not going to leave the negotiating table. Let them be the ones to say they do not want to negotiate, because we remain at the table presenting proposals at all times,” he said.
Lula dismissed the idea that the higher tariffs would change Brazil’s trade policy, and said the country will look for new buyers to offset the losses.
“We are not going to sit around crying over the products we did not sell to [the United States] because we are going to look for other buyers,” he said.
Lulu contended that the trade tensions have prompted Brazil to strengthen ties with other international partners, and he cited as an example recent progress on the trade agreement between the Southern Common Market, or Mercosur, and the European Union.
“We are talking with many countries so that we can make up for those losses and even earn more than we were earning before. Brazil is a large country, Brazil is respected, and it has credibility in the international market,” he said.
During the event, the government announced a package of $3.65 billion in new financing lines for companies affected by U.S. trade restrictions.
The funds will be used for working capital, productive investments, technological innovation and opening new markets for sectors including steel, aluminum, wood, paper, plastics, sugar, footwear, fertilizers, critical minerals, and the chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive and electronics industries.
Lula’s remarks came after United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the new tariff before the Senate Finance Committee.
Greer said that despite more than a year of negotiations, Brazil “has refused to change policies and practices that harm American workers, farmers and businesses,” according to Veja Brasil.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the tariff increase is a response to measures Washington considers contrary to its interests, including Brazilian tariffs on U.S. ethanol, policies affecting technology companies, illegal deforestation in the Amazon and insufficient enforcement of anti-corruption laws.
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