Brazil's Lula on Trump criticism: 'There’s no reason to be afraid'

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in a Tuesday interview that he’s not afraid to criticize President Trump publicly — even if that means no deal can be reached to stave off the 50-percent tariff on Brazilian imports that Trump announced earlier this month and moved to put into action on Wednesday.

In an interview with The New York Times published Wednesday, Lula was asked about his willingness to openly criticize Trump, including calling him an emperor, while other heads of state have been reluctant to do so.

Asked if he thinks that approach “could worsen things,” Lula said, “I don’t.”

“There’s no reason to be afraid,” he continued. “I am worried, obviously, because we have economic interests, political interests, technological interests. But at no point will Brazil negotiate as if it were a small country up against a big country. Brazil will negotiate as a sovereign country.”

Lula stressed the importance of finding middle ground.

“In politics between two states, the will of neither should prevail. We always need to find the middle ground. This is achieved not by puffing out your chest and shouting about things you can’t deliver, nor by bowing your head and simply saying ‘amen’ to whatever the United States wants,” Lula said.

Trump, earlier this month, announced plans to impose a 50-percent tariff on all goods from Brazil, citing the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of his, over an alleged plot to remain in power after losing an election.

Trump originally warned the tariffs would go into effect on Aug. 1, but, on Wednesday, the president signed an executive order officially raising the tariffs on Brazil to 50 percent. The order goes into effect seven days after its signing: on Aug. 6.

Trump, who has criticized Brazil’s treatment of Bolsonaro, said in a letter to Lula earlier this month that the new tariffs are “due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans," and he also cited Brazil’s “Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”

“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” Trump wrote in the letter, which was posted to the president’s Truth Social platform earlier this month.

Lula responded at the time by fiercely defending the independence of the government institutions and saying Brazil would not be threatened.

He reiterated that sentiment in the Times interview this week but stressed his desire to work with the U.S. president on trade without involving politics.

“I want to tell Trump that Brazilians and Americans do not deserve to be victims of politics, if the reason President Trump is imposing this tax on Brazil is because of the case against former President Bolsonaro,” Lula said, when asked for his message to the U.S. president.

“The Brazilian people will pay more for some products, and the American people will pay more for other products. And I think the cause does not merit this,” Lula continued. “Brazil has a Constitution, and the former president is being tried with a full right to a defense.”

Trump and Lula had not spoken, as of the Tuesday interview. Lula said he had tried to reach out to arrange a conversation with Trump, but “so far, it hasn’t been possible.”

Lula, a left-wing politician, urged Trump to give him a chance, saying, “I honestly don’t know what Trump has heard about me. But if he got to know me, he’d know that I’m 20 times better than [Bolsonaro].”

But Lula brushed off the potential consequences of tariffs, saying Brazil will look to trade more with China going forward.

“If the United States doesn’t want to buy something of ours, we are going to look for someone who will,” he said.