According to Agência Brasil, a Brazilian news agency, on July 10 local time, Brazilian President Lula said in an interview with Brazilian television station Record TV that Brazil can survive without trade with the United States and will seek other trade partners to replace it. He also announced that the Brazilian government will formally file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the US's latest decision to impose high tariffs.
Lula also emphasized that countries like Brazil are not obligated to continue using the US dollar for trade.
President Lula of Brazil interviewed by Brazilian television station Record TV "X"
In the interview, Lula openly stated, "We will have to find other partners to buy our products. Trade between Brazil and the US accounts for only 1.7% of its GDP. Without the US, we are not unable to survive."
Lula also emphasized that countries like Brazil are not obligated to continue using the US dollar for trade. He stated that leaders of countries should seek to reduce dependence on the US dollar in international trade and reiterated his speech at the BRICS summit last weekend: "We have the willingness to create a currency for trade with other countries. I am not obligated to trade with Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Sweden, the EU or China in US dollars. We can conduct transactions in our own currencies."
In response to the previous day's decision by US President Trump to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports, Lula revealed that the Brazilian government will formally file a complaint with the WTO and warned that if negotiations fail, Brazil will take reciprocal countermeasures under the Economic Reciprocity Law. "There is no doubt that we will first try negotiations. But if negotiations fail, the Economic Reciprocity Law will be implemented. If he imposes a 50% tax on us, we will also impose a 50% tax on him."
"Inside the WTO, you can find a group of countries that have been taxed by the US. We can take a whole set of procedures to respond." Lula hopes that this complaint will be advanced together with other countries that have also been subjected to increased US tariffs.
It is reported that the Economic Reciprocity Law came into effect on April 2025. The law stipulates that when foreign countries or economic groups take unilateral measures that are detrimental to Brazil's international competitiveness, Brazil may suspend commercial preferences, investment arrangements, and intellectual property rights and obligations with them to implement reciprocal countermeasures.
On July 9, Trump announced in a public letter that he would impose tariffs of up to 50% on Brazilian exports. In his letter, he accused Brazil of "disrupting the trade balance" and mentioned the judicial issues facing Brazil's former president Bolsonaro, using them as a political basis for the tariff increase. In response, the Brazilian government quickly expressed its position, accusing the US of violating international trade rules and stating that it would seek multilateral mechanisms to respond.
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