Lula and Trump discuss tariffs; “I like him”, says American

In a phone call this Tuesday, the presidents of Brazil and the United States discussed remaining tariffs and the fight against organized crime. “We had a great conversation. I like him [Lula]”, disse Trump.

In a phone call that lasted around 40 minutes, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asked his American counterpart, Republican Donald Trump, to remove the 40% additional tariff on Brazilian products that are still subject to surcharges from the United States.

According to Planalto, the conversation took place around noon in Brasília this Tuesday (12/11) and was “very productive”.

“Lula indicated that the United States’ decision to remove the additional 40% tariff imposed on some Brazilian products, such as meat, coffee and fruit, was very positive. He highlighted that there are still other tariffed products that need to be discussed between the two countries and that Brazil wishes to move quickly in these negotiations”, informed the Presidency, in a note.

Last month, the United States government added around 200 items, such as cocoa, beef, bananas and açaí, to the almost 700 products that were already off the surtax list. However, electronics, aircraft parts and tires are still subject to Trump’s additional tariffs.

Also this Tuesday, the American president told journalists at the White House that the conversation was productive and that the two have a good relationship.

“We had a great conversation. We talked about trade and we talked about sanctions because, as you know, I imposed sanctions on them because of certain things that were going on,” Trump said. “But we had a great conversation. I like him. We had some good meetings, but today we had a great conversation,” said the American.

According to the Presidency’s note, the presidents agreed to “talk again soon” about the progress of the negotiations.

Trump had imposed a 10% tariff on Brazilian exports, which he later increased to 40%, bringing the total to 50%, in retaliation for the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who was sentenced, on September 11th, to 27 years in prison for an attempted coup and has been in pre-trial detention since November 22nd.

Organized crime

In addition to the commercial and economic agenda, another topic discussed was the fight against organized crime, reported Planalto. “(Lula) highlighted the recent operations carried out in Brazil by the federal government with a view to financially stifling organized crime and identified branches that operate from abroad”, says the note.

“President Trump highlighted his full willingness to work together with Brazil and that he will give full support to joint initiatives between the two countries to confront these criminal organizations,” stated the Presidency.

The note does not specify whether the two representatives dealt with Venezuela, a country that has been suffering military pressure from the United States and allegations that Nicolás Maduro’s government controls drug trafficking in the region.

Originally published by DW on 12/02/2025