His country is the most affected by US customs duties: the Brazilian president called Trump to ask him to withdraw the 50% surcharge in certain products.

The Brazilian president, Lula, asked his American counterpart Donald Trump to raise the surcharge that moved part of Brazilian exports on Monday during a first telephone exchange in the “friendly” tone, according to the Brazilian presidency.

During this conversation, which “lasted 30 minutes,” Luiz Inacio Da Silva asked Mr. Trump to “raise the surcharge imposed on Brazilian products and restrictive measures against Brazilian authorities.”

Just over a third of the products in question

Although Brazil should not be initially affected by customs tariffs beyond the 10% floor that is now applied in a large part of the products imported to the United States, Donald Trump had announced his intention to impose a 50% surcharge, the highest applied to a particular country.

The US president criticizes Brazilian justice for former President Jair Bolsonaro, accused of a coup attempt after his defeat in the presidential elections of 2022. This prosecution, qualified by Donald Trump as “witch hunting”, also led to US sanctions against one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Alexandre de Moras.

Donald Trump’s decree, however, provides exemptions for several hundred products, from nuts to energy through the aeronautical industry or orange juice. According to Valentina Sader, an expert in Brazil for the Atlantic Council, almost 700 products are exempt from surcharge. In the end, only 36% of the country’s exports to the United States are really worried, according to the Brazilian government.