Alckmin: Moraes’s decision should not compromise negotiations with USA

The decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) of putting an anklet in former President Jair Bolsonaro should not compromise negotiations on the United States tariff, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on Friday. He made the statements after meeting with representatives of the mining and energy sectors, two segments that will be widely affected by Donald Trump’s government measures.

In an interview tonight, the vice president and Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services said the government will continue to bet on dialogue and negotiation. Alckmin recalled that the powers are separated and that the executive cannot interfere with judiciary decisions.

“(Moraes’s decision) cannot and should not (affect commercial negotiations), because the separation of powers is the basis of the state, both in Brazil and the United States. The powers are independent. There is no relationship between a political or legal and tariff issue,” said Alckmin.

The minister no longer made comments about Moraes’s decision or the prospects for former President Bolsonaro. According to Alckmin, the issue fits exclusively to the judiciary.

This Friday (18), Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to use electronic anklet and banned the former president from accessing social networks, approaching embassies and talking to ambassadors.

The magistrate also determined that the former president stay at 7 pm to 6am on weekdays and fully on weekends and holidays. Failure to comply with any of the determinations will result in Bolsonaro’s arrest.

Won

Regarding a possible entry of Brazil at the World Trade Organization (WTO), cited in the statement of Thursday (17) by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Alckmin stated that the Brazilian government will give priority to negotiations and that this would be a last case. “We reinforced Brazil’s willingness for negotiation,” he reiterated.

Alckmin clarified that the government can only act after the imposition of the tariffs was completed. Since last week, Trump has threatened to raise Brazilian export rates to the United States to 50% on August 1.

“You can only enter the WTO with a concrete fact. The WTO has two ways. The first is the consultations and this is only after a concrete fact. Then you have the panel, which is a second stage. And there is still an appeal,” explained the vice president and minister. He stressed that, so far, the US government has not responded to the letter sent this week when Brazil calls for the suspension of the tariff.

Meetings

Coordinator of the Interministerial Committee that discusses the fare imposed by Trump, Alckmin met this week with entrepreneurs from various sectors of the economy. According to the vice president and minister, the meetings helped reinforce and improve the Brazilian government’s arguments in negotiations with the United States.

“The way is the negotiation and the work has been qualified, showing that we can get out of a loser for a win, with expansion of trade and investment. United States and Brazil are the two largest markets in the Americas,” he said. Alckmin stressed that the United States has a large commercial surplus with the Brazilian mining sector (with Brazil importing more than exporting), which justifies no reason for tariff.

Finally, the vice president again said that Brazilian sovereignty is non-negotiable and said that the private sector is united around the subject. “We harvest (in the last meetings) a national union around Brazil’s sovereignty, which is non-negotiable. Then the need for a commitment to suspend this increase in rates, which is a loser, for Brazil and the United States,” he concluded.