Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has made it clear that he has no intention of initiating direct talks with U.S. President Donald Trump following the sudden hike in U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Lula described the idea of contacting Trump as “a humiliation,” stating that he would only reach out if and when he sensed a genuine willingness from the U.S. president to engage constructively.
The United States raised tariffs on Brazilian exports to a steep 50%—one of the harshest trade barriers yet under the Trump administration. While this move sent shockwaves through global markets, Lula appeared unfazed. He emphasized that Brazil has no immediate plans to retaliate with its own tariffs but also made it clear that his government won’t simply back down or accept the pressure.
“The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won’t hesitate to call him,” Lula said from the Alvorada Palace in Brasília. “But today my intuition says he doesn’t want to talk. And I’m not going to humiliate myself.”
Despite the rising tension, Lula reaffirmed his commitment to cabinet-level dialogue with U.S. officials, although he acknowledged that his ministers have struggled to make progress with their American counterparts. In the meantime, Brazil is prioritizing domestic policies to minimize the economic fallout from Washington’s tariffs while maintaining its stance on fiscal responsibility.
The dramatic deterioration in U.S.-Brazil relations stems not just from trade, but also from Trump’s controversial involvement in the legal proceedings against Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro. Trump tied the new tariffs to a demand that Brazil halt Bolsonaro’s prosecution—an assertion Lula sharply rejected.
“Brazil’s Supreme Court does not care what Trump says, and it should not,” Lula said. “Bolsonaro should face another trial—for provoking Trump’s intervention. He is a traitor to the homeland.”
Lula drew parallels with a painful chapter in Brazil’s history, recalling the U.S.-backed military coup of 1964, which led to a two-decade dictatorship. “We had already pardoned the U.S. intervention in the 1964 coup,” Lula remarked. “But this now is not a small intervention. It’s the president of the United States thinking he can dictate rules for a sovereign country like Brazil. It’s unacceptable.”
As diplomatic avenues with Washington stall, Lula is looking to Brazil’s partners in the BRICS bloc—particularly China and India—for potential collective action. He confirmed plans to initiate talks with fellow BRICS leaders about a unified response to U.S. trade aggression, signaling a strategic pivot away from Western economic reliance.
In addition, Lula announced his administration is crafting a new national policy on Brazil’s strategic mineral resources. The policy aims to reverse the country’s historical pattern of raw mineral exports with minimal domestic value addition. “Strategic minerals must be treated as a matter of national sovereignty,” Lula asserted.
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