Lula is optimistic there will be US-Brazil trade deal after meeting with Trump in Malaysia

Brazil’s President Lula said Donald Trump “guaranteed” a future trade deal during talks in Kuala Lumpur, expressing confidence that U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods will soon be resolved. Lula also sought to keep Bolsonaro’s conviction separate from negotiations and offered to mediate Venezuela tensions

Kuala Lumpur: Brazil’s leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed confidence on Monday that his country and the United States will reach a trade deal, saying that US President Donald Trump had practically “guaranteed” it during their talks the day before.

The two presidents held talks on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, on Sunday, which Lula described as a “very good meeting.” Trump, who headed to Japan from Malaysia, said he could reduce tariffs on Brazil that he had enacted in a push for leniency for Brazil’s imprisoned former president, a Trump ally.

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“I think we should be able to make some good deals for both countries,” Trump had said after meeting Lula.

According to Lula, he presented Trump with a written document outlining arguments against the US tariff hikes that Lula said acknowledged the United States has the right to impose the measures, but its move was based on “mistaken information.” Trump didn’t commit to suspending the tariff hikes, nor raised any conditions during their talks, Lula said.

“He guaranteed to me that we will reach an agreement,” Lula told a news conference, speaking through an interpreter. “I am very confident that in a few days we will reach a solution.” The Trump administration imposed a 40 per cent tariff on Brazilian products in July on top of a 10 per cent tariff hike earlier. The US justified the tariffs, saying that Brazil’s policies and criminal prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro constitute an economic emergency.

Bolsonaro was recently convicted of attempting a coup after losing his bid for reelection in 2022, and a panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced him to about 27 years in prison.

Lula said he again reminded Trump that Brazil was one of three Group of 20 industrialised and emerging-market nations with which the US maintains a trade surplus. The US had a US$ 6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year, according to the Census Bureau.

He also noted that Bolsonaro 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.

Lula said he also offered to help mediate the crisis in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of fabricating a war against him after Washington sent the world’s biggest warship towards his country.

Lula, who marked his 80th birthday on Monday, said he felt at a high point of his life and that he hopes to live up to 120 years old. He was in Kuala Lumpur to attend annual summits held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a guest of the chair of Malaysia, which hopes to deepen the region’s trade links with Latin America.