Lula signs decree allowing him to respond to Trump's tariffs

The Brazilian President signed on Monday the decree regulating the Reciprocity Law, the instrument approved by Congress in May that allows Brazil to adopt countermeasures in response to the tariffs announced by Donald Trump.

The decree details the economic protection procedures that the Government must adopt, in reciprocity, to respond to unilateral measures or barriers imposed by trading partners that restrict Brazilian exports.

The measure provides for the "reciprocity" with which Lula da Silva promised to respond if negotiations do not prevent the United States government from imposing a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian products starting August 1, as Trump announced last week.

The US President justified the unilateral measure as a response to Brazil's alleged high surplus in bilateral trade , which US statistics themselves deny, but he also used as justification the case against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for attempted coup d'état, considering it to be a "witch hunt" and that he is the victim of "persecution".

The United States is the destination for 12% of Brazil's exports, which last year totaled $40.3 billion (€34.5 billion), while imports from the world's largest economy amounted to $40.5 billion (€34.6 billion).

Brazilian Minister of the Presidency Rui Costa announced that the decree had to be signed on Monday so that it could be published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette of the Union, when the Government will hold the first meetings with exporters to consider a response to Trump's threats.

The minister stated that the law approved by Congress authorizes the Executive to adopt measures to “protect the country when other countries impose untimely and extraordinary unilateral measures” that affect exports.

The Reciprocity Law allows Brazil to adopt trade and diplomatic countermeasures proportional to unjustified barriers imposed by countries or economic blocs on Brazilian products.

The decree regulating the law provides for prior diplomatic consultations coordinated by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attempt to reach a negotiated solution to conflicts before adopting countermeasures.

Starting this Tuesday, the Brazilian government will meet with business leaders from various sectors that export to the United States. The committee's first meeting will be held with industrial sectors, followed by another meeting, this time with the powerful agribusiness sector.

During the day, businesspeople from the aviation, steel, aluminum, cellulose, machinery, footwear, furniture, auto parts, meat, honey, fruit, leather and fish sectors will be interviewed.

On Friday, Lula da Silva toughened his stance and stated that if Donald Trump were Brazilian and promoted an invasion like the one at the Capitol on January 6, 2022, he would be arrested .

"If Trump were Brazilian and there was a Capitol here and he did what he did in the United States, he would also be arrested," said Lula da Silva, in a speech to artisanal fishermen and farmers in the state of Espírito Santo.

Lula da Silva thus alluded to the case in which Jair Bolsonaro is being accused of a coup d'état, for the events that culminated in the attack by radicals on the three branches of government in Brasília on January 8, 2023, similar to what happened a year earlier in the United States, on January 6, 2022.