A trade deal between Brazil and the United States could be sealed within days, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has asserted.
Lula made the statement in Kuala Lumpur on Monday after meeting with US President Donald Trump. Lula has been seeking a deal since the White House slapped a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian exports in July due to legal pressure on Trump ally and former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula described his meeting with Trump on Sunday, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, as “surprisingly good”, and said he received assurance that a deal can be reached soon.
“He guaranteed to me that we will reach an agreement,” Lula told a news conference. “I am very confident that in a few days we will reach a solution.”
Later, as he made his way to Japan, Trump also signalled that a deal is likely following “a great meeting”.
“We’ll see what happens,” the US president told reporters. “They’d like to do a deal.”
A deal could avert punitive US tariffs after months of animosity between Lula and Trump, whose relationship has warmed since an unscheduled meeting at the United Nations in New York earlier this month.
The Trump administration imposed a tariff of 50 percent on Brazilian products in July. It linked the decision to what the US president described as a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.
Lula said that during the meeting in Malaysia he had presented Trump with a document outlining arguments against the tariff hike.
While the document acknowledged the US has the right to impose the measures, its move was based on “mistaken information”, the Brazilian president said.
Trump did not commit to suspending the tariff hikes, but also did not raise any conditions during their talks, Lula said.
“I’m convinced that in a few days we’ll have a definitive solution, you know, between the United States and Brazil, so that life can continue well and happily,” he concluded.
“He guaranteed to me that we will reach an agreement,” Lula said, speaking through an interpreter.
In a separate interview with reporters, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira described the meeting as “very positive” and “very productive”.
“The meeting was very positive, and the final outcome is excellent. President Trump stated that he will instruct his team to begin a process, a period of bilateral negotiations,” Vieira added.
Lula has previously labelled the US tariff a “mistake”, citing a $410bn US trade surplus with Brazil over the past 15 years.
He has also noted that far-right political figure Bolsonaro, who has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election, had been given a fair trial, and that his case should not factor in their trade negotiations.
“Bolsonaro is part of the past now in Brazilian history,” he said.
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