Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, on Thursday accused U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of “attacking” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a “crude and arrogant” manner after Rubio commented on a new U.S. tariff decision. Rubio wrote on X that Lula had “put his own ego ahead of making a deal … and these tariffs are the price for that.”
Vieira called Rubio’s remarks “unacceptable and offensive,” saying “Rubio’s attacks on the head of state of a friendly nation are crude and arrogant,” and stressing that Lula had consistently shown a willingness to negotiate. He added that Washington’s irritation stems from Brazil’s refusal to bow to what he described as “excessive ambitions and unreasonable demands” during talks.
The minister accused the United States of politically motivated action in imposing the tariffs. He noted that U.S. authorities are using a section of their trade law to open investigations and levy duties after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a swath of former President Donald Trump’s global trade measures last year.
Vieira rejected several of the U.S. justifications for the tariffs as baseless. He called a suggestion that Brazil’s PIX payment system-an instant digital-payments network widely used in Brazil-creates unfair competition for U.S. credit card companies “not a serious argument.” He also described Washington’s claim that illegal deforestation in Brazil gives foreign logging producers an unfair advantage as “absurd,” saying, “Since 2022, we have significantly reduced deforestation in the Amazon and the Cerrado.”
The dispute comes against a tense political backdrop: Trump is described as a close ally of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro and his family, and Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, is identified as Lula’s main rival in the October presidential election. Last year, Washington imposed tariffs on Brazil following a trial that resulted in Jair Bolsonaro being sentenced to 27 years for attempting a coup; most of those duties were later lifted after bilateral talks.
None of the arguments used by the U.S. to justify the new tariffs, Vieira said, “are grounded in reality.” The remarks and the measures mark a renewed flare-up in trade and political tensions between the two countries. The story is published from a syndicated feed.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/brazil-hits-out-at-marco-rubio-over-remarks-on-lula-11781857#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-07-17 01:00:00
