BRASÍLIA: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva extended an invitation to Donald Trump to visit Brazil amid escalating trade tensions.
The Brazilian leader made the remarks while planting grapes, one of the products affected by Washington’s 50-percent tariffs.
“I hope you can visit someday so we can talk and you can get to know the true Brazil, the Brazil of people who love samba, carnival, soccer, the United States, China, Russia, Uruguay, and Venezuela,“ Lula said in a video message.
The tariffs mark some of the highest imposed by the US on a trading partner.
Unlike other trade disputes, the measures against Brazil have been framed in explicitly political terms.
Trump has accused Brasilia of conducting a “witch hunt” against his ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro faces trial over an alleged coup attempt against Lula in 2022.
The US recently sanctioned the judge overseeing Bolsonaro’s case and seven other Supreme Court magistrates.
Lula has reaffirmed his support for Brazil’s judiciary, pledging to defend “the sovereignty of the Brazilian people.”
His administration is preparing to challenge the tariffs, including potential legal appeals.
The levies threaten key Brazilian exports and jeopardise a trade surplus worth $284 million last year.
Lula emphasised cooperation over conflict, stating, “I hope that someday we can talk, President Trump, so you can learn about the quality of the Brazilian people.”
He framed his grape-planting as symbolic, saying it represented “planting food, and not planting violence, or planting hate.” - AFP
