Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has told United States President Donald Trump that he has no right to impose his will on other countries, arguing that nations should be allowed to protect their sovereignty and pursue their own interests.
Lula made the remarks in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour ahead of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The Brazilian president said Trump’s approach to international relations appeared to be based on the idea that the strongest country should dictate terms to others.
“President Trump was elected to be the US president. He has the right to govern the US, but he doesn’t have the right to govern other countries,” Lula said.
“He doesn’t have the right to impose his will. He has to have the willingness to negotiate.”
Lula said every country had the right to determine its own affairs, adding that the United States should not impose its rules on other nations.
“We just want to say that every country has their own sovereignty. They take care of their own interests and the US cannot impose their rules over the others,” he said.
The Brazilian leader also criticised tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Brazilian imports.
According to the account of the interview, the United States imposed a 25 per cent tariff on certain Brazilian goods in July following an investigation by the US Trade Representative. Washington said the measures were in response to what it described as Brazilian policies affecting digital trade, electronic payments, intellectual property, ethanol market access, anti-corruption enforcement and illegal deforestation.
Lula rejected the justification for the tariffs, describing them as based on “lies”, and said Brazil had responded by seeking to strengthen trade relations with other countries.
He said Brazil’s exports to the US had fallen by nine per cent, while imports from the US declined by 8.5 per cent following the tariffs. Lula also cited increased trade with China, Japan, Germany and the European Union.
“So I’m not going to just try to cry out about the milk that was spilled on the floor. I’m going to seek other partners to try to buy and sell,” he said.
Lula added that Brazil was still negotiating with the US and would consider retaliatory measures only if the talks failed.
“I don’t want to go to a tariff war with the US and neither with any other country,” he said.
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