The Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade of Brazil, Márcio Elias Rosa, announced this Monday that, together with the Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, he will hold a meeting with the United States Trade Representative (USTR, for its initials in English), Jamieson Greer, during the G20 summit that will take place on September 30 and October 1 in the U.S. city of Milwaukee. In that meeting, both delegations will address the tariff war opened between the two governments, after Washington imposed a 25% tax on certain Brazilian products.
"There is a G20 summit scheduled for September 30 and October 1 in the United States, and both we and the USTR hope to hold an in-person meeting there. Minister Mauro Vieira and I will travel to Milwaukee, where we will probably meet with Ambassador Greer," Elias Rosa stated upon leaving a meeting at the Palácio do Planalto, according to the news portal G1, of the newspaper 'O Globo'.
However, the head of Industry emphasized that, for now, no understanding has been reached regarding the discussions on tariffs between Brazil and the United States. "We agreed to hold these meetings there, and the technical teams have been communicating normally," he insisted, making it clear that the negotiations are still in a preliminary phase.
At the same time, Elias Rosa has indicated that the agenda with Washington will be intense. Before the meeting with him, Vieira, and Greer, a meeting between the ministers responsible for Industry and Trade of both countries is scheduled, conceived as preparation for the main negotiation. "We will have bilateral meetings with almost all participants of the G20, but the meeting we want to hold, for the negotiation, is this one," he emphasized.
In the last round of dialogue between Brazil and the United States regarding the increase of tariffs, on August 31, Elias Rosa and Vieira conveyed to the U.S. Administration that "the Brazilian government does not agree with the unilateral measures imposed against the country, which are not compatible with multilateral trade rules," according to a statement released at that time by the administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The United States has established two types of tariffs on Brazil. The first, of 25%, is justified by alleged unfair trade practices. The second, of 12.5%, is linked to alleged deficiencies in the enforcement of the importation of goods produced with forced labor. This last levy, which affects dozens of countries, replaced the general tariff of 10% that the Government of Donald Trump had applied almost globally and that expired last July.