Lula Urges Trump to Scrap Tariffs, Lift Sanctions

Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump held a roughly 30-minute friendly videophone call in which Lula asked Trump to remove a recent 40% surcharge that, with other duties, has pushed some tariffs toward about 50%, and to lift U.S. sanctions, visa and financial restrictions on Brazilian officials. The duties were imposed by Washington this summer following the prosecution and later conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro; Lula said he would not retaliate but pressed for a negotiated rollback. The leaders exchanged phone numbers, agreed to meet in person soon (Lula suggested the ASEAN summit or COP30 in Belém), and set up follow-up talks with Marco Rubio designated to coordinate with Brazil’s Vice‑President Geraldo Alckmin and other ministers. Brazilian officials on the call described it as “positive” or “better than expected,” and Lula emphasized the close economic ties and that Brazil runs a goods-and-services surplus with the U.S. Both sides framed the exchange as an initial step toward restoring relations, with outcomes unresolved pending further negotiations, and Trump posted on social media that the call was “very good.”