Trump meets privately with Brazil’s Lula, says progress made on tariff fight

President Trump on Thursday said progress was made on potential new tariffs on Brazil after he met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the White House.

“We discussed many topics, including trade and specifically tariffs,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the meeting “went very well.”

The president said representatives from both countries will get together over the next few months to continue discussions.

Mr. Lula arrived at the White House early Thursday in hopes of convincing Mr. Trump not to hit his country with any new tariffs. The two leaders were supposed to have a portion of their meeting take place in public, but that was scuttled. Instead, Mr. Lula quietly arrived and left the white House with no press coverage.

Mr. Trump last year slapped Brazilian products with 50% tariffs, one of the highest among U.S. importers. In hitting Brazil with such steep tariffs, Mr. Trump cited what he called a witch-hunt against its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was later convicted of attempting to overthrow democracy.

Mr. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison, though his attorneys have appealed the conviction.

Mr. Trump later removed most of the levies, including those on Brazilian beef and coffee, to calm rising U.S. grocery prices. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariffs Mr. Trump imposed under a national emergencies law, eliminating most of the remaining levies.

Brazilian products still have an extra 10% tariff set to expire in July, but the Trump administration has signaled that it could be hit with new tariffs connected to a Section 301 probe into unfair trade practices.

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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative last month alleged that nearly half of Brazil’s timber exports are from illegal sources, a claim Mr. Lula has denied, insisting his actions have reduced deforestation.

Brazilian officials met with U.S. Commerce Department officials two weeks ago and became concerned that the U.S. officials asked few questions, according to media reports. That sent alarms throughout Brazil that the allegations were about raising tariffs rather than resolving the issue.

“What they are doing is building a case, even if unfounded, to justify the later adoption of tariffs,” one Brazilian official said, according to Reuters.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Lula met in Malaysia last year, but ahead of the UN General Assembly in September, the Brazilian president said he had “no relationship” with his American counterpart.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.