US tariffs: Brazil won’t retaliate immediately — Minister

Brazil’s Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, said on Wednesday that his country would not immediately retaliate against tariffs imposed by the United States on steel and aluminium imports, opting instead to seek negotiations.

Recall that the US President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports took effect on Wednesday, stepping up a campaign to reorder global trade in favour of the US and drawing swift retaliation from Canada and Europe.

Media Talk Africa reports that Brazil is one of the largest sources of US steel imports, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had previously suggested his government could file a complaint at the World Trade Organization or tax US products as a reaction to the tariffs.

The South American country leader, however, has now ordered his economic team to seek dialogue with Trump’s administration.

“President Lula told us to remain calm, noting that in the past, we have negotiated under conditions that were even more unfavourable than the current ones,” the minister said.

Vice President Geraldo Alckmin last week held what his office described as a positive call with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on US tariff policy, and they both agreed that dialogue between the two governments would continue.