‘What he needs to do is respect the sovereignty of other countries,’ said the Brazilian leader.

On Thursday, President Lula da Silva warned that Brazil would respond with “reciprocity” if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to impose tariffs on Brazilian products.

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“It’s very simple. If he taxes Brazilian products, there will be reciprocity in Brazil when it comes to taxing products imported from the U.S.,” he said, noting that he expects “Trump to respect Brazil.”

“I’m not worried if he’s going to fight over Greenland, the Gulf of Mexico, or Panama. What he needs to do is respect the sovereignty of other countries,” said the Brazilian leader, who reiterated his desire to strengthen cooperation with the U.S., one of Brazil’s main trade partners.

“For my part, I want to improve that relationship,” Lula said, emphasizing that his country is interested in exporting and importing more if necessary.

Recently, Trump called Brazil a “tremendous tariff creator” and accused it of trying to harm the U.S. economy. “We will impose tariffs on countries that really want to harm us. They want to harm us, even though they basically want to do good for their country. Look at what others are doing: China is a tremendous tariff creator, India, Brazil, and so many other countries,” the U.S. President said.

China, India, and Brazil are three of the countries that make up the BRICS forum of emerging economies, along with Russia, South Africa, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, and Indonesia.

Lula hopes to meet with the Republican leader at the next G7 summit if invited, or during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE

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