Lula: Alckmin is “an excellent negotiator” and Trump will retreat when “he knows the truth”
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday (25), during the launch ceremony of the Periferia Viva Program in Osasco (SP), that Vice President Geraldo Alckmin is the government’s leading articulator in negotiations with the United States and said that when US President Donald Trump knows the truth about Brazil, he will no longer apply the 50% tariff against Brazilian products.
“Trump, the day you want to talk, Brazil will be ready and prepared to discuss, to try to show how mistaken you were with the information you gave you,” said Lula. “And when you know the truth, you’ll say, ‘Lula, I’m not going to tax Brazil anymore, I will be the way it is.’”
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Lula pointed out that Alckmin has “calm profile” and dialogue capacity. “This boy here, Geraldo Alckmin, is my vice president … This guy is an excellent negotiator, does not raise his voice and does not send a letter, he just wants to talk.”
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The president also highlighted the performance of an interministerial committee led by Alckmin and Mauro Vieira, who has already held ten meetings with US representatives. “On May 16, Alckmin, along with Mauro Vieira, signed a letter asking for the US government response about the meetings.”
According to Lula, Brazil is still open to dialogue, but will not accept impositions: “We are calm, we are discussing, we really want to hear what will happen, and then we will take our positions.”
The speeches occur at exactly seven days of the deadline set by Trump to start the 50% surcharge on Brazilian exports, a measure announced earlier this month as retaliation for Jair Bolsonaro’s trial by the Supreme Court (STF).
“Nation traitors”
Without quoting names, Lula strongly criticized Bolsonaro’s allied parliamentarians who work in the US in favor of the fare. “They are clinging to the boots of the president of the United States asking him to intervene in Brazil. In a total lack of patriotism. It brings together the lack of patriotism with being shameful, with betrayal,” he said.
The president also mocked the public demonstrations of Trump support. “This guy is cheating on the nation. He’s betraying the Brazilian people. He was a federal deputy … He was, ‘ô Trump, ô Trump, you know my father, Trump?'”
Lula said he was surprised by the letter released on Trump’s official website. “I was surprised that the US President would posted a letter to me on his portal, saying that Brazil was going to be taxed by 50%, and asks for the letter to stop chasing Bolsonaro immediately.”
The president defended the independence of the Brazilian judiciary. “If President Trump had called me, I would certainly explain … Bolsonaro is not being persecuted, he is being tried with all the right of defense.”
Negotiation follows unlikely
The 50% rate promised by Donald Trump against Brazilian products is scheduled to take effect on August 1 and remains without agreement. The Brazilian government maintains a negotiation front led by Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Chancellor Mauro Vieira, but interlocutors recognize that the conversations are locked.
Meanwhile, the US seeks a new legal basis to support the fare, as Brazil has no commercial surplus with Americans – the argument used in other previous sanctions. The measure is seen as politically motivated, with Trump by pressing Brazil to abandon Jair Bolsonaro’s trial by the Supreme Court.
