Brazil, US set date for meeting to discuss tariff hikes

Brazil and the United States have set a date for a virtual meeting on August 31 to discuss recently imposed tariffs. The meeting is scheduled to take place between the Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services of Brazil, Márcio Elias Rosa, and the US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer. The discussions were initiated following a cordial phone call between Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump, which took place last Friday.

The talks came about as a result of the escalating trade dispute sparked by the US government's imposition of tariffs on Brazilian products. During the call, President Lula expressed his desire to resume trade negotiations and criticized the justification provided by the US government for the new tariffs. The tariffs, which were imposed in July, affect various sectors including iron and steel, apparel, footwear, sugar, ethanol, pharmaceuticals, agricultural machinery, electrical machinery, and other manufactured goods.

These tariffs, worth around USD 6.6 billion, were imposed due to concerns over Brazil's lack of effective mechanisms to prevent the importation of goods produced using forced labor. In response, Brazil has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that the tariffs imposed are inconsistent with WTO rules.

The US has accepted the request for WTO consultations, and Brazil has pledged to work towards mitigating the economic damage caused by the tariffs.