BRASILIA – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met this Saturday, 19, at the Alvorada Palace, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, and Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio, Brazil's negotiator at the BRICS . Concerned about the 50% tariff increase imposed on Brazilian products by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, Lula asked for information on the progress of the negotiation.

So far, there are no signs that the White House will back down. On the contrary, everything indicates that more sanctions will come soon. Behind the scenes in the administration, however, the diagnosis is that Trump used the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in the case regarding the coup plot as a pretext to react to the BRICS's advance.

On Friday the 18th, Trump repeated his threat to impose a 10% tax on exports from countries in the bloc. He also said that the group"will end very quickly" if it forms "in a significant way." "We can never let anyone play games with us," the US president stated.

The BRICS de-dollarization agenda is in Trump's sights. Although Lula has consistently advocated for"a new international trade currency," the bloc resists the idea. However, it is studying an international payment system, called BRICS Pay, to facilitate trade and financial transactions in local currencies.

In private conversations, ministers in Lula's administration say that Trump's justification for taxing Brazil by 50%, using the banner of defending Bolsonaro – accompanied by an unreasonable demand that the Supreme Federal Court (STF) end the former president's trial and grant amnesty to those convicted – is nothing more than an excuse.

On the morning of this Saturday, the 19th, Lula expressed solidarity with the judges whose visas were revoked by the United States . In addition to Alexandre de Moraes – the rapporteur of the case on the attempted coup of January 8, 2023 –, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Federal Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, and Justices Dias Toffoli, Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino, Cármen Lúcia, Edson Fachin, and Gilmar Mendes were surprised by the revocation of their US entry visas. The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet – who filed a complaint against Bolsonaro – also appears on this list.

The announcement of the sanction was made on social media by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, following Moraes' decision, which imposed a series of restrictive measures on Bolsonaro, including the use of an electronic ankle bracelet.

For Supreme Court justices interviewed confidentially,

Trump's letter to Bolsonaro on Thursday, the 17th – saying he is being persecuted and receiving"terrible treatment" from an "unjust system" – was yet another indication that the former president was preparing an escape plan. None of them sees any chance of Congress passing an amnesty bill.

In addition to addressing the crisis in relations with the United States by inviting Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio—who is also Secretary of Climate, Energy, and Environment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—to Alvorada, Lula discussed his trip to Chile during the conversation. The president leaves for Santiago this Sunday, the 20th, where he will participate in a high-level meeting on the defense of democracy on Monday.