Trump stages reconciliation with Lula
The US president could seal a trade deal with China this Thursday.
BarcelonaWith a handshake and two forced smiles, Donald Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva staged reconciliation this Sunday in Kuala Lumpur. In a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit, being held in the Malaysian capital, the presidents of the United States and Brazil put the rough seas of recent months behind them and announced that their respective teams will "immediately" begin negotiations to lower tariffs. The thaw comes after the White House increased tariffs on most products from Brazil from 10% to 50% in August.
"We have agreed that our teams will meet immediately to move forward in finding solutions to the tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian authorities," Lula wrote in a social media post after the meeting. Trump had linked the tariff increase to what he called a "witch hunt" against the former president of Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison in mid-September for leading an attempted coup. Washington had also directly sanctioned members of the Brazilian administration and judiciary, such as Supreme Court Justice Alejandro de Moraes, who was in charge of Bolsonaro's trial, and had revoked the visas of most members of the Brazilian high court.
"We will establish a schedule of negotiations and agree on the sectors we will discuss in order to move forward," declared Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Brazil has requested that the tariffs be suspended during the negotiation process, but the US administration has not yet made it clear whether it intends to halt them.
Progress with Beijing
Also on the sidelines of the summit, the terms of the pact that could seal the deal are being cooked up. The United States and China to cool their trade war this ThursdayTechnical delegations from Washington and Beijing are meeting these days to finalize the agreement that should halt the rise of US tariffs and controls on Chinese rare earth exports, and resume sales of US soybeans in China, US officials told Reuters.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has expressed optimism about the possibility of eliminating 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1. He also said he hoped China would postpone the implementation of its licensing regime for rare earth minerals for a year while it reconsiders the measure. "I think we have a very conducive framework for the leaders to address on Thursday," Bessent said after meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, and chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign the final terms of the pact. But while the White House has officially announced the talks, Beijing has yet to confirm the meeting.
