Brazil’s President and Trump discuss trade, sanctions in phone call

WASHINGTON/BRASILIA – US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed trade, the economy and fighting organised crime in a phone call on Dec 2, both sides said.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr Trump said they also discussed sanctions – an apparent reference to his administration’s targeting of Brazil’s judiciary over the criminal case of

right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro

.

Mr Trump added that he and Mr Lula “had a great talk. We talked about trade. We talked about sanctions because, as you know, I sanctioned them having to do with certain things that took place”.

In a later social media post, Mr Trump said he looked forward to seeing and speaking with Mr Lula soon, adding that “much good will come out of this newly formed partnership”.

Brazil’s presidential palace said Mr Lula thanked Mr Trump for his decision to remove additional tariffs on US imports of Brazilian goods including coffee and beef, and added that Brazil seeks to progress on talks about products still affected by the levies.

Mr Trump in November removed the

40 per cent tariffs on several Brazilian food products

, which also included cocoa and fruit, that he had announced in July to punish Brazil over the prosecution of Bolsonaro, a Trump ally.

During the 40-minute call on Dec 2, which the Brazilian presidential palace called “very productive”, Mr Lula also stressed the urgency of strengthening cooperation with the United States to fight international organised crime.

The two leaders spoke amid recent US actions in the region, including a massive military build-up in the Caribbean and three months of US strikes on suspected drug boats off Venezuela’s coast. REUTERS