In his half-hour interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on July 17, Brazilian President Lula da Silva described Donald Trump’s proposed 50% tariff as “without logic,” but added that he didn’t see any real crisis in bilateral relations. Negotiations, he said, would be the preferred route to deal with this problem and Brazil is open to that, but “will not accept anything imposed on it. We accept negotiation and not imposition.” Trump shouldn’t forget, he added, that “he was elected to govern the U.S. not to be the emperor of the world.”
As for negotiations: “I’m not a progressive President. I am the President of Brazil. I don’t see President Trump as a far-right President. I see him as the President of the U.S.—he was elected by the American people.… The best thing in the world is for us to sit around a table and talk,” he added. “If President Trump is willing to take seriously the negotiations underway between Brazil and the U.S., then I’ll be open minded to negotiate whatever may be necessary. But what is important is that the relationship between the two countries cannot go on like this,” he said.
