Trump, Lula hold 'very good' call amid tariff tensions, plan to meet soon

Washington, Oct 6 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Monday held a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, calling the conversation “very good.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “This morning, I had a very good telephone call with President Lula, of Brazil. We discussed many things, but it was mostly focused on the Economy, and Trade, between our two Countries. We will be having further discussions, and will get together in the not too distant future, both in Brazil and the United States. I enjoyed the call — Our Countries will do very well together!”

It was the first major conversation between the two sides after the Trump administration slapped a 50 per cent tariff on Brazil in retaliation for legal action against former Brazilian President and an ally of Trump, Jair Bolsonaro.

The two leaders briefly met during the UN General Assembly session in New York last month, with Trump saying that he and Lula had “good chemistry.”

After the call, the Brazilian President also posted on X, saying that “he received a call from President Trump” and “reminisced about the good chemistry we had” in New York.

“I consider our direct contact as an opportunity for the restoration of the 201-year friendly relations between the two largest democracies in the West. During the phone call, I recalled that Brazil is one of the three G20 countries with which the United States maintains a surplus in the balance of goods and services,” Lula wrote.

Lula also demanded the lifting of tariffs on Brazilian goods and announced that he may meet Trump on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia in late October.

Brazil, as a member of the BRICS, has been vocal against Trump’s economic policies and has attempted to build a common strategy to tackle US tariffs.

In September, Brazil hosted an online BRICS Summit to coordinate strategies, with Lula warning that “tariff blackmail is being normalised as a tool for conquering markets and interfering in domestic issues.”

Both Brazil and India have been hit with a 50 per cent tariff rate by the Trump administration, with a few exceptions. Trade negotiations between India and the United States have resumed after a brief hiatus, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer holding talks with Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in New York on September 22.

--IANS

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