The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has criticized this Thursday the decision of the United States to impose tariffs on 60 countries, reproaching the Administration of Donald Trump for "manipulating a fundamental issue for Human Rights and the struggle of workers around the world." Washington has presented this measure, which comes hours before the expiration of the temporary global levy of 10% already in force, as a punishment to economies that have not banned products made with forced labor.
"In the absence of an internal legal basis to support its protectionist trade policy, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR; Jamieson Greer) has chosen to manipulate a fundamental issue for Human Rights and the struggle of workers around the world, accusing 59 countries and the European Union of unfair practices," the Brazilian leader stated on social media.
Regarding Brazil, Lula has reiterated that his Executive "rejects the decision of the United States government to impose tariffs of 12.5% on Brazilian products" and has emphasized, in line with what he has defended on other occasions, that "throughout the investigation (of the USTR on Brazil) the Ministry of Labor provided explanations and extensive documentation on Brazilian legislation and the actions of our customs authorities to curb imports of goods produced with forced labor."
The leader has recalled that "we have classified as crimes not only the submission to forced labor but also exhausting work hours, degrading working conditions, and restrictions on freedom of movement. We demand accountability from companies and individuals, applying severe fines, and we maintain a 'Black List' of employers," referring to the set of measures implemented by Brasília against these practices.
Likewise, he has highlighted that "Brazil has been recognized for decades by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for its firm commitment to the fight against forced labor," recalling that "Brazil has ratified the four ILO instruments related to forced labor," while "the United States has only ratified one."
In that same line, he has emphasized that "we are signatories of 66 current ILO conventions. Meanwhile, the United States, which claims the right to judge us and impose sanctions, has only ratified 10 of these conventions."
Lula has added that "the free trade agreements signed by Brazil and Mercosur, including those signed with Chile, the European Union, and the European Free Trade Association, contain commitments to eliminate forced and compulsory labor and to effectively enforce these prohibitions."
For this reason, and in light of what he considers an unfounded offensive, he has announced that, "given the completely arbitrary and unjustified nature of the tariffs announced against Brazil, we will immediately initiate the procedures to activate the instruments provided for in the Reciprocity Law, unanimously approved by the National Congress, and we will take the matter to the dispute resolution mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO)."
The response from the Brazilian head of state comes after the Trump Administration confirmed the imposition of tariffs on 60 countries, presenting the measure as a sanction against those states that have not banned goods from forced labor. This new package replaces the temporary global tariff of 10% applied for 150 days, which expires at midnight in the United States (Eastern Time), 6:00 AM in Spain.
In the specific case of Brazil, tensions between the Trump and Lula governments intensified last week when the U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, announced a 25% tariff on "most" Brazilian imports, citing the lack of "good faith" from Brasília in the talks with Washington.
Among the arguments put forward by the United States was the defense by Brazilian authorities of the electronic payment system Pix, developed by Banco do Brasil, which according to the White House "has unfairly harmed" U.S. suppliers.
The list of complaints also included reproaches for "punishing U.S. tech companies for refusing to censor political speech," a criticism that referred to the sanction imposed on the social network X, owned by South African businessman Elon Musk, for not complying with the court order to remove accounts of those investigated for spreading messages deemed anti-democratic.