Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged U.S. President Donald Trump to treat all countries fairly on tariff issues.
According to AFP and other foreign media, on the 22nd local time in New Delhi, India, President Lula told reporters before departing for Korea, "I want to tell President Trump that we do not want a new Cold War." He added, "We do not want interference in other countries, and we want all countries to be treated equally."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the 20th that President Trump's reciprocal tariff action was illegal. But after the ruling, Trump said he would impose a new 10% tariff worldwide, and then said he would raise it to 15%.
Lula said he did not want to comment on another country's supreme court ruling but added, "I am confident that after our dialogue, relations between Brazil and the United States will return to normal." AFP reported that Lula is expected to visit Washington, D.C., next month for a summit with President Trump.
The U.S. government imposed a high tariff of 50% on Brazilian products in July last year. As tensions between the two countries persisted, the U.S. government in November last year withdrew the additional 40% tariff it had imposed on some Brazilian agricultural products.
Lula paid a state visit to India to attend the World Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit and held a bilateral summit with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After wrapping up the India schedule that day, he will pay a state visit to Korea for two nights and three days. This is the first state visit to Korea by President Lula in 21 years since 2005. President Lee Jae-myung and President Lula are scheduled to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in a wide range of areas, including trade and investment, climate, energy, space, the defense industry, science and technology, agriculture, education and culture, and people-to-people exchanges at a summit on the morning of the 23rd.