【By Observer Net, Yuan Jiaqi】

President Trump, who is known as "the hardest mouth in the whole body", once again contributed to the "advantage is mine" moment.

According to Hong Kong media South China Morning Post on the 14th, on Thursday local time, when asked about how he views Latin American countries such as Brazil and Mexico, which are dissatisfied with US tariffs and have deepened relations with China, Trump casually claimed that he was "completely not worried" about Latin American countries moving closer to China.

In the White House Oval Office, when hearing the question, Trump instinctively turned his lips, glanced away from the table with a distracted look, and said in a nonchalant tone: "Completely not worried, not at all worried. They can do whatever they want."

Perhaps realizing that this statement was hard to justify, he quickly changed his tone to defend himself, claiming that the US economy was "better than any country in the world," and those Latin American countries were "far behind."

This attitude is nothing more than completely carrying out the nonsense of "it's not that Latin American countries don't play with me, but I, Trump, don't want to play with them."

However, the deepening of Sino-Latin American relations is certainly not reversed by Trump's few words of stubbornness. China has always taken a respectful and win-win attitude, continuously solidifying the partnership with Latin America, and using concrete actions to break the fallacy of the so-called "backyard" of the United States.

China has repeatedly emphasized that Latin America and the Caribbean are the home of the Latin American people, not the "backyard" of any country. China has always viewed and developed Sino-Latin American relations from a strategic perspective and with a long-term view, and will always be a reliable friend and partner of Latin America.

On June 9, Zhang Run, Director of the Latin American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, stated that Sino-Latin American cooperation belongs to South-South cooperation, respects the wishes of Latin American countries, meets their needs, and provides a reliable choice and bright future for their development. The false accusations spread by some countries against Sino-Latin American cooperation will inevitably fail.

Video screenshot

According to US media video, after making the above remarks, Trump continued to attack Brazil, accusing it as "one of the worst performing countries in the world" as a trade partner. He shifted the blame, accusing Brazil of imposing high tariffs on the US for years, leading to difficult bilateral trade.

But in fact, Brazil is not a US trade deficit country. On the contrary, in 2024, the US had a trade surplus of $18.3 billion with Brazil, reaching a ten-year high. Moreover, eight out of ten major US exports to Brazil enjoy tariff exemptions.

The real logic behind the US tariff policy comes from Trump pressuring Lula's government to stop judicial investigations into his ally, former Brazilian President Bolsonaro. This has caused strong dissatisfaction in Brazil, with accusations of interference in internal affairs.

At Thursday's press conference, Trump continued to insist on his position, attacking Lula's government's judicial decision as a "political persecution."

He couldn't help adding drama, "I am very good at judging people, I think he (Bolsonaro) is an honest person. That's too scary."

"They (Brazil) impose high tariffs, making it difficult for us to do anything," Trump retaliated, "so now they are being taxed 50%, they are unhappy, but that's just how it is."

On July 30 local time, Trump signed an executive order, adding an additional 40% tariff on top of the 10% so-called "reciprocal tariff" on Brazil, bringing the total tariff to 50%. The new tariff came into effect on August 6. The order also imposed sanctions on Brazilian federal Supreme Court judge De Moraes, who was responsible for adjudicating Bolsonaro's case.

Although compared to previous times, the US has included nearly 700 types of Brazilian goods in the exemption list, including civilian aircraft and parts, nuts, orange juice, some fertilizers, and energy, but after the implementation of the high tariffs, most Brazilian goods will still be affected, bringing negative impacts to the country's economy.

Faced with the politicization, weaponization, and instrumentalization of economic and trade issues by the US, the Brazilian government firmly says "no."

According to reports from British media The Guardian, on August 13 local time, Brazilian President Lula announced the "Brazil Sovereignty Plan," stating that measures would be taken to respond to the impact of US tariffs and encourage investment in strategic areas to ensure Brazil's economic development.

According to a report from European News Network (Euronews), this plan will also include a credit assistance of 3 billion reais (approximately RMB 39.79 billion), providing "blood transfusion" to the affected areas.

The announcement released by the Brazilian presidential office emphasized that Brazil is still willing to engage in constructive dialogue with the US to resolve trade disputes, but at the same time will strengthen cooperation with trade partners outside the US, reduce dependence on US exports, and firmly fulfill its commitment to multilateralism through participation in World Trade Organization affairs.

When announcing this relief plan on Wednesday, Lula also responded to the unreasonable sanctions against the Brazilian high court judge. In a speech in the capital Brasilia, he emphasized that the trial of Bolsonaro had no "arbitrary" aspects.

"I have already told President Trump: If the 'Capitol riot incident' happened in Brazil, he would also be prosecuted in Brazil," Lula added.

Lula also urged the Brazilian people not to fear the pressure from the Trump administration, "We should not feel fear, anxiety, or excitement when we encounter a crisis. Crises exist to allow us to create new things. Great things were created by humans during crises."

He also said, "Whenever our American friends decide to take up a dispute with someone, they try to portray the person they want to oppose as a demon."

European News Network noted that senior leaders of the Brazilian Congress also attended the signing ceremony of the presidential office that day, which is a first in several months. This detail indicates that in the face of pressure from the Trump administration, the Lula government is gaining more and more support, and the entire country of Brazil is uniting to resist the bullying behavior of the United States.

Local time August 13, Brazilian Presidential Palace, the Minister of Economy (left to right), Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Vice President of Brazil, President of Brazil, and President of the Senate pose for a photo at the signing ceremony of the "Brazil Sovereignty Plan." Visual China

At the same time, the Lula government is maintaining contact with China and India, discussing how to jointly respond to Trump's tariff policies within the framework of the BRICS mechanism.

This article is exclusive to Observer Net. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538654352957833778/

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