By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday turned down US President Donald Trump’s offer to discuss tariffs over a phone call, stated that he would instead reach out Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
MEA said that the call was an hour-long phone conversation, the two leaders discussed the US imposition of “unilateral tariffs”
In a statement on X, Lula said, “We discussed the international economic scenario and the imposition of unilateral tariffs. Brazil and India are, so far, the two most affected countries. We reaffirmed the importance of defending multilateralism and the need to address the challenges of the current situation, as well as to explore possibilities for greater integration between the two countries.”
Both leaders also recalled the goal of increasing bilateral trade to over USD 20 billion by 2030.
“We also recalled the goal of increasing bilateral trade to over USD 20 billion by 2030. To this end, we agreed to expand the scope of the agreement between MERCOSUR and India,” he said.
Modi posted about their conversation on X and stressed on the need of a strong and people-centric Partnership between the Global South nations.
“We are committed to deepening our Strategic Partnership including in trade, energy, tech, defence, health and more. A strong, people-centric partnership between Global South nations benefits everyone,” the PM said.
Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariffs on Indian imports to the US, bring them on par with Brazil.
He imposed an additional 40 per cent tariffs on India. Now both countries face 50 per cent US tariffs, highest among the major trade partners of the United States.
Tump doubled the tariff on India citing Russian oil purchase and in Brazil’s case, the alleged “witch hunt” against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula had turned down US President Trump’s offer to discuss tariffs over a phone call, saying he would instead call his BRICS allies, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I will call Xi Jinping, I will call Prime Minister Modi. I won’t call Putin, because he can’t travel now. But I will call many Presidents,” Lula said while responding to Trump’s offer.
Lula said that he will resort to all possible measures, starting with the WTO, to defend national interests.
“In fact, the government was already taking action to strengthen foreign trade and generate new opportunities for domestic companies before the change of administration in the United States,” Lula added.
