Overview

• Lula and Trump held a cordial, roughly 30‑minute call in which Lula asked for the revocation of a 40% surcharge on Brazilian exports and the removal of U.S. restrictions on Brazilian officials.
• Trump designated Secretary of State Marco Rubio to conduct the talks with Brazil’s vice president Geraldo Alckmin, foreign minister Mauro Vieira and finance minister Fernando Haddad, and the leaders agreed to meet soon.
• The U.S. tariff package was announced in July at 50% and took effect in August after exemptions that left an effective 40% surcharge on many items, hitting sectors such as meat and coffee despite hundreds of exemptions.
• Brazilian officials and exporters had pursued months of outreach and lobbying in Washington, and the new negotiation track shifts the dispute from public confrontation to technical diplomacy with no rollback announced so far.
• Political reaction in Brazil split quickly, with government allies hailing the dialogue and opposition figures downplaying it while emphasizing Rubio’s role and his prior criticism of Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes.