Brazil's President Lula says he will personally call Trump if tariff talks stall

Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday said he will personally call his US counterpart Donald Trump if negotiations on US tariffs do not make progress in the near future The US government has increased tariffs on many Brazilian goods by more than 50 per cent but Lula and Trump discussed reaching a potential deal during a meeting in Malaysia in OctoberI have his number he has mine I have no trouble calling him Lula told reporters ahead of the United Nations climate summit known as COP Its 30th edition starts this week in Belem a Brazilian city on the edge of the AmazonWhen COP30 ends if a meeting between my negotiators and his is not yet scheduled Ill call Trump again the Brazilian leader said adding that his main negotiators Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad are keen for further talksI wont have any issue in going to Washington going to New York to discuss tariffs and I hope that he Trump has no problem in coming to Brazil Lula said On July 30 Trump signed an executive order to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Brazil Trump has linked the tariffs to the countrys policies and criminal prosecution of former president Jair BolsonaroThe US ran a USD 68 billion trade surplus last year with Brazil according to the US Census Bureau Brazil and the US are the biggest democracies in the Western world The more we respect each other the more cordial we are with each other before the world the best it will be for the US and for Brazil Thats how I do politics Lula saidBolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in jail for leading a coup attempt after his 2022 election defeat to Lula The former president who has been under house arrest since August is now appealing to reduce his prison sentence Separately Lula urged Latin American states to help avoid a conflict in Venezuela as the Trump administration orders military action against vessels allegedly linked to drug cartelsThe veteran leader said he is considering attending a Community of Latin American and Caribbean States meeting in Colombia next week where the 33member body will discuss US military action in the region Some members of the European Union will also be in attendance Trumps military operations in the Caribbean have killed dozens of people who he accuses of being members of a drug cartel led by Venezuelas President Nicolas MaduroLast month he authorised the CIA to conduct covert actions inside Venezuela and the US government has doubled the bounty for the capture of Maduro who denies the accusations which he claims to be an excuse for American military action in the region I told Trump that Latin America is a region of peace Lula said I dont want us to reach the point of a US ground invasion of VenezuelaHe added Police have every right to fight drug dealersthe Americans could be helping those countries instead of trying to shoot against them Lula said he also urged Trump to follow the example of former US president George W Bush who took part in discussions to pacify Venezuela after a coup attempt against then Venezuela president Hugo Chavez in 2002At that time I suggested we create a group of friends of Venezuela I put the US there I put Spain Lula said It was not a group of friends of Chavez We eventually reached a deal Lula also criticised Rio de Janeiro authorities after 121 people were killed in a massive police raid targeting a drug trafficking gang The operation in two of the citys favelas sparked intense gunbattles on October 28 Lula described the police operation as disastrous and demanded independent forensics to determine what happened in RioThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever