Brazil still waiting for US reply to May trade proposal, vice president says

BRASILIA (Reuters) : Brazil has yet to hear a response from Washington about an offer it made in trade talks two months ago, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped much higher tariffs on Brazil last week.

Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace, Alckmin said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had set up a task force to start discussing a response with business leaders on Tuesday.

Last week, Trump imposed what he called a reciprocal tariff targeting Latin America’s largest economy, rising to 50% from 10% starting in August, and demanded an end to the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly plotting a coup.

Alckmin added on Monday that the Brazilian government would also seek talks with U.S. companies affected by the measure.

He said the government had not yet asked for a delay or reduction in the new tariffs after Trump’s announcement, but was instead engaging with the most-affected industries to ensure the private sector mobilizes and coordinates with U.S. counterparts to help reverse Trump’s measure.

Lula will sign on Monday a decree setting criteria for his government’s response to foreign trade measures hurting the Brazilian economy, his chief of staff Rui Costa told journalists earlier in the day.

His decree regulating the trade reciprocity law, which Brazil’s Congress passed in April, should be published in the official gazette on Tuesday, Costa added.