Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has announced a $5.5 billion aid package in a bid to support exporters hit by a 50 per cent tariff imposed by United States President Donald Trump.
Other measures include postponing tax charges for business establishments affected by the high tariffs.
In a strongly worded address, Lula said, “We cannot be scared, nervous and anxious when there is a crisis.”
He added, “A crisis presents a unique opportunity for us to create new things.”
Trump’s 50 per cent tariff imposition on Brazil stands on “no legal, moral or ethical ground.”
While the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs on several countries around the world, Brazil and India were singled out with some of the highest levies of up to 50 per cent.
Trump, on the other hand, said that his tariff imposition on Brazil was mainly a reaction to the legal situation of his ally, the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula's strong reaction to the US tariffs has deepened the division between the two countries. The Brazilian president was quoted as saying, “Every time the US decides to ‘fight with someone’, they paint their rivals as the devil.”
“When there’s no moral or ethical standing left in the US administration over the imposition of unjustified tariffs, they now want to talk about human rights in Brazil. We have to see what happens in the country that is accusing Brazil,” he said.
The Brazilian leader has so far refrained from imposing higher tariffs on American imports, saying he is not interested in “worsening our relations with the US”.
“We like to talk it out,” he said. “We don’t want conflict. The only thing we need to demand is that our sovereignty is untouchable, and no one has the right to interfere in the country’s affairs.”
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