Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Friday invited his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to publicly justify the imposition of a new 25 percent tariff on some Brazilian exports.

[Brazil Triggers Reciprocity Law After Trump Imposes New Tariffs: Brazil’s Lula Asks Trump to Justify New Batch of Tariffs](https://www.telesurenglish.net/brazils-lula-asks-trump-to-justify-new-batch-of-tariffs/)

During an event in Rio de Janeiro, the progressive leader maintained a cautious stance, stating that he would only address the issue once the Republican leader did.

Lula took the opportunity to reaffirm national dignity, emphasizing that Brazil “does not accept disrespect from any other country in the world.” Although he avoided technical details in his in-person speech, he had previously described Washington’s measure as “unfair and illegal” on social media, warning that “sovereignty is not negotiable.”

Na declaração à imprensa sobre o tarifaço imposto ao Brasil, o ministro Márcio Elias Rosa (MDIC) destacou:

Nossa prioridade, agora, é atender e apoiar os produtores afetados por esta tarifa injusta, indevida e ilegal. Mantemos a disposição ao diálogo e à negociação. Mas o nosso… pic.twitter.com/RucTUzMsUn

— Lula (@LulaOficial) July 17, 2026

“I will wait to talk about the ‘tariff hike’ (I will do so) when Trump does. If Trump doesn’t speak, I won’t speak because we are going to show that, as far as Brazil is concerned, no one wins by lying,” declared the Brazilian president, alleging that Trump “will have to learn to wage war with another weapon, which is the weapon of words.”

The US decision comes after an investigation by the Office of the Trade Representative (USTR), which alleges harmful trade practices for US companies, although it exempted 2,100 strategic products such as meat, coffee, and oil. Despite these exemptions, the Brazilian government announced that it will activate the “Reciprocity Law,” approved in April 2025, to apply trade retaliations.

“I have already told him, I told President Trump three times, that Brazil has no interest in waging a war. Brazil has no interest, we here are for peace,” the Brazilian president stressed, referring to Trump’s action with his country. Analysts point out that this tariff offensive also has a political component, since Trump has linked the sanctions to the coup trial against his ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

This measure provoked a crossfire of accusations that highlights the political nature of the measure, by serving as an impulse for Flávio Bolsonaro to blame his opponent in the next election process. Both had a crossfire of accusations on social media where Bolsonaro blames not negotiating with the US while Lula’s environment recognizes that it is a capricious response to not having bowed to them.

Brasilia is preparing its legal and economic response, seeking to balance the defense of its national interests with the need to maintain open channels of dialogue amid growing bilateral tension that threatens to escalate the trade war initiated by the Republican administration.

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