Stung by US tariffs, Lula tells Trump to visit and ‘get to know true Brazil’
‘I hope that someday we can talk, President Trump, so you can learn about the quality of the Brazilian people,’ the South American leader says
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that he hopes Donald Trump can come and get to know the real Brazil, as the South American powerhouse reels from Washington’s 50 per cent tariffs.
In a video taken while he planted grapes, one of the tariff-hit goods, Brazil’s leftist leader addressed Trump.
“I hope you can visit someday so we can talk and you can get to know the true Brazil, the Brazil of people who love samba, carnival, soccer, the United States, China, Russia, Uruguay, and Venezuela. We love everyone,” Lula said.
The tariffs imposed on Brazil are among the steepest to hit a US trading partner.
And unlike with other countries, the measures against Brazil have been framed in openly political terms, with the Republican president justifying the move by alleging Brasilia is conducting a “witch hunt” against his ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro is being tried for an alleged coup attempt against Lula in 2022, and the US recently sanctioned the judge in the case, along with seven other Supreme Court magistrates.