After Trump talks about Lula, Haddad says Brazil wants to zero list of tariffs

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Tuesday that Brazil wants to zero the list of products subject to tariffs from the United States amid dealings for a meeting between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

“It is not taking from the list, it is not to have a list. We do not want any list, is not right. South America should not be charged,” he said in an interview to journalists, after an event promoted by the Brazilian Institute of Teaching, Development and Research. “At some point, this has to be reversed.”

The Brazilian government earlier confirmed the possibility of a conversation between Lula and Trump next week after a quick meeting between the two during the UN General Assembly in New York.

Asked what the farm wants to take to the meeting, Haddad said the folder intends to separate politics from the economy and stressed that Brazil has “enormous partnership possibilities” with the whole world and the US in particular.

In August, Trump imposed a 50% rate on Brazilian products exported to the United States, justifying the measure in part for what he called “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro in the process for attempted coup. Subsequently, some products were exempt from this super tariff.