Brazil Plans to Join China and India to Counter Trump

Using the excuse of the current Brazilian government's so-called "political witch hunt" against former President Bolsonaro, US President Trump has raised a 50% tariff threat against Brazil. How is Brazilian President Lula planning to respond to this tariff storm?

On August 6 local time, Lula revealed in an exclusive interview with Reuters that he plans to first call China and India to discuss how the BRICS countries can jointly counter the tariffs imposed by Trump. "President Trump is subtly undermining multilateralism (i.e., collective agreements within institutions) and replacing it with unilateralism (i.e., bilateral negotiations with other countries)," he said: "To what extent can a small Latin American country negotiate with the United States? Absolutely nothing."

"I am naturally a master negotiator," Lula, who rose to politics from the labor movement, said. He does not rush to reach an agreement or retaliate with the US, nor does he rush to call the White House. Brazil will not announce "reciprocal tariffs" at the moment, but will not give up negotiations at the cabinet level. "We need to be very cautious," he said.

"If my intuition tells me that Trump is ready to negotiate, I will not hesitate to call him," Lula said at his presidential residence in Brasília: "But today, my intuition tells me that he doesn't want to talk. I won't humiliate myself."

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839767644019788/

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