Rubio Meets Brazil’s Foreign Minister in Washington to Advance Trade Framework
State Department offered no tariff decisions, with Brazilian media reporting that coffee duties could be reviewed soon.
Overview
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, in Washington and discussed a mutual framework for trade relations, according to a State Department statement.
- CNN Brasil has reported that President Donald Trump may soon reconsider or lift U.S. tariffs on Brazilian coffee, a claim based on unnamed diplomats and not confirmed by either government.
- Those diplomats indicated Rubio was likely to raise coffee tariffs in the talks after Trump pressed for steps to lower U.S. coffee prices.
- Reporting from TASS relaying CNN Brasil says a draft bilateral trade agreement is expected to be prepared following the meeting, with a possible announcement discussed for December.
- A potential December meeting between Trump and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been floated without a confirmed date or location, and the coffee tariffs introduced in August remain in place.