Tariffs are not a solution to US problems, says Lula in an article for Trump at NYT

(Reuters)-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday that the imposition of tariffs on Brazilian products by the United States is not an adequate solution to resolve internal issues raised by the US government and has again defended multilateralism in an article in the New York Times directed to its US homologist Donald Trump.

“Employment recovery in the US and reindustrialization are legitimate motivations,” he said. “But resorting to unilateral actions against individual states is to prescribe the wrong medicine. Multilateralism offers fairer and more balanced solutions. The increase in tariffs imposed on Brazil is not only wrong but also illogical.”

Lula said he wrote the article as an attempt to open an honest dialogue channel with the US President and refuted the arguments used to impose import rates, which, he said, are clearly political motivation and was admitted by the Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, in conversation with Brazilian businessmen who were trying to open trading channels in Washington.

Lula also highlighted data that points to a US imbalance in the US commercial relationship between both countries as further proof of the lack of economic justification for the imposition of rates.

During the tariff negotiation process, authorities of US and Brazil governments had meetings and calls, but Trump and Lula have not yet talked to each other. In an interview with Reuters, the Brazilian president said he would not “humiliate” himself to try to speak directly to the American.

At this point, there are no open negotiation channels between the governments of Brazil and the US. According to Lula, for lack of willingness of the Trump government to negotiate.

In the letter announced the rates, Trump quoted former President Jair Bolsonaro’s trial in the Supreme Court for an attempt to coup, which he characterized as a “witch hunt,” as one of the factors to impose rates. In the article, Lula denied any political persecution and praised the Supreme Court.

“I am proud of the Federal Supreme Court for its historic decision on Thursday, which safeguard our institutions and the Democratic Rule of Law. It was not a ‘witch hunt’. The decision was the result of a process conducted in accordance with the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, promulgated after two decades of fighting a military dictatorship,” he said.

According to Lula, there are no ideological differences that prevent two governments from working together in areas where they have common goals.

“This is how I see the relationship between Brazil and the United States: two great nations capable of respecting and cooperating for the good of Brazilians and Americans.”