The foreign ministers of Brazil and the United States, Mauro Vieira and Marco Rubio, held a meeting in Canada to advance negotiations aimed at eliminating the additional 50% tariff imposed by Washington on Brazilian exports, official sources reported.
The meeting took place in Niagara-on-the-Lake, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the G7, a group of the world’s main economies, in which Brazil participates as a guest.
“In the interval between the sessions, Vieira addressed the current state of bilateral negotiations with the US in a conversation with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio,” the Brazilian Foreign Ministry reported in a message published on social networks along with a photograph of the two foreign ministers talking.
According to sources from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the diplomats discussed the status of the talks and agreed to hold a new face-to-face meeting in the coming weeks to try to unblock the dialogue.
Vieira took advantage of the conversation to remind Rubio that Brazil sent a formal negotiation proposal to the US Government on November 4, after a virtual meeting between the technical teams of both countries.
The chancellor stressed that such efforts respond to the guidance they received from Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump, who addressed the issue during a meeting last month in Malaysia.
Starting in August, the Trump Administration imposed an additional 50% tariff on the import of a large part of Brazilian products in retaliation for the alleged political persecution suffered by former President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of the Republican leader.
Signs of US easing
The Brazilian Government alleges that the restriction does not make economic sense because for several years the United States has had a surplus in its trade with Brazil.
According to official Brazilian sources, the Lula Government’s intention in the current negotiations is to achieve the immediate suspension of surcharges, while moving towards a broader understanding, which may include trade in rare earths and strategic minerals.
Washington has already shown signs of flexibility and on Tuesday Trump mentioned on his social networks the possibility of reducing some coffee import tariffs as part of his strategy to contain domestic inflation.
Coffee is one of Brazil’s main export products to the United States and was not included, along with meat, in the list of items exempt from paying the additional tariff.
“We heard the news about coffee here in Canada, but until now we have not been approached by any authority. I hope they communicate something to us through the embassy. It is something very important for the Brazilian economy and it will be a very welcome measure,” said Vieira in statements to the Brazilian press in Canada.
The dialogue between the two governments occurs after months of tensions that included personal sanctions against Brazilian officials and the revocation of visas of the Supreme Court judges responsible for the trial in which Bolsonaro was convicted. Source: news
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