'Vietnam, which is communist, managed to negotiate with Trump; why can't Brazil?'

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The President of the United States , Donald Trump , said this Sunday, 27, that he will not postpone his deadline to impose 50% tariffs on his trading partners, including Brazil .

The American president's statements came during a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland this Sunday. The Republican announced that he had managed to reach an agreement with the European Union (EU) to reduce tariffs from 30 to 15% on exports from the European bloc.

The agreement was reached following an announcement that the European Union would invest $600 billion in the United States, $150 billion of which would be in energy and a fraction in military products. The meeting was brief, lasting less than two hours.

The European bloc's representative believed she had a"50% chance" of reaching an agreement on tariffs. In a nod to Trump before the meeting, Ursula had acknowledged the need to adjust relations."We need to rebalance. The European Union is in surplus," she stated.

The Republican also signaled that pharmaceuticals would be treated separately from this agreement with the European Union, which would be a severe blow to Europe, which had hoped to limit tariffs on medicines, its main export to the United States."Pharmaceuticals are very special," Trump said.

The US president stressed that Washington was making a lot of money from tariffs on steel and aluminum, products that the EU wanted to be exempt from.

“Anyone who doesn't want to pay any tariffs should open a factory in the United States,” the American president said, summarizing his position.

Negotiation

According to several European sources who spoke to AFP, the text of the agreement reached by Washington and Brussels proposes the imposition of a basic 15% tariff by the US on EU products, with exemptions for the aeronautics, timber and alcoholic beverages sectors, excluding wine.

The European bloc is pushing to reach an agreement on steel that would allow a quota to enter American soil without tariffs.

In exchange, the Europeans would commit to purchasing liquefied natural gas and investing in the United States. This agreement is similar to the pact recently reached between the US and Japan.

EU products currently face a 25% tariff on vehicles, a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, and a general 10% tariff, which Washington threatens to raise to 30% if there is no agreement.

The 15% would be higher than the pre-existing American taxes on European products (4.8%) and the current 10%.

Lutnick Interview

Trump's information about the deadline had already been reiterated by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. In an interview with conservative American broadcaster Fox News, Lutnick said the tariffs would take effect on August 1, but that Trump was willing to negotiate even after the deadline.

Only five countries have reached trade agreements with Washington after the tariffs were first announced in April: United Kingdom , Vietnam , Indonesia , Philippines and Japan .

The tariffs agreed upon by these countries exceed the 10% rate that the United States has applied since April to the vast majority of countries, but are still far below the levels that Trump threatened if the governments did not reach an agreement with Washington that put an end to what he considers unfair practices.

The tariffs against Brazil, which are expected to come into effect in early August, will harm several sectors of the Brazilian economy, such as agricultural products, manufactured goods, oil and aircraft .

The United States has a trade surplus with Brazil that amounted to nearly US$284 million (R$1.6 billion) in 2024, according to official Brazilian figures. Brazil's main sales to the American market are crude oil (12%), semi-finished iron and steel products (9.7%), unroasted coffee (5.8%), and aircraft and other equipment (5.2%), among others.

The fees were announced in July by US President Donald Trump, under the political argument that there was a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) .

On Thursday, the 24th, the vice-president of Brazil, Geraldo Alckmin, stated that he spoke with Lutnick and emphasized that the country is committed to resolving the issue of the 50% tariffs announced by the United States.

"We spoke with the American government, we had a conversation with the Secretary of Commerce, a long conversation, which I understand is important, covering all the points and highlighting Brazil's interest in the negotiation," said Alckmin, adding that the dialogue took place last Saturday./with AFP