by Ramon SAHMKOW with Fran BLANDY in Rio de Janeiro
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday that if US counterpart Donald Trump hiked tariffs on Brazilian products, he would reciprocate -- but that he would prefer improved relations over a trade war.
The Latin American giant is one of the countries that Trump has threatened with higher tariffs.
"It's very simple: if he taxes Brazilian products, Brazil will reciprocate in taxing products that are exported from the United States," the 79-year-old Lula told a press conference.
Lula, currently in his third term, said he would prefer to "improve our relationship with the United States" and boost trade ties with Brazil's second-largest trading partner after China.
"I want to respect the United States and for Trump to respect Brazil. That's all," he said.
Citing Trump's comments that he plans to take back the Panama Canal or get control of Greenland, Lula said "he just has to respect the sovereignty of other countries."
Lula also underscored the global threats facing democracy.
"For me, democracy is the most important thing in humanity right now ... Either we keep democracy working or we will have states more authoritarian than Hitler and fascism."
Lula, whose country will host the COP30 UN climate talks in the Amazonian city of Belem in November, added that Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord was "a step back for human civilization."
He said he did not want a summit where "measures are approved, everything looks very nice on paper and then no country complies," slamming wealthy nations for failing to meet previous promises to give billions of dollars to help developing nations deal with the fallout of climate change.
"We want something very real so that we can know if we are serious or not about the climate issue."
The president held a wide-ranging press conference in the capital Brasilia, urging journalists not to hold back in their questions as his government seeks to reclaim the narrative after battling a wave of disinformation.
After undergoing emergency surgery to stop a brain bleed in December linked to an earlier fall, Lula vowed he was fully recovered and had "the energy of a 30-year-old."
With less than two years left of his third presidential term, Lula's approval rating has sunk to 47 percent, according to a Quaest poll published this week, with a notable drop in support from his key electoral base in the low-income northeast of the country.
Lula said he was "not worried" about opinion surveys, and brushed off concerns about high interest rates and public debt.
As expected, the central bank on Wednesday hiked the key interest rate by one point to 13.25 percent, despite a new bank president being appointed by Lula -- who has in the past criticized interest rate hikes.
"The president of the central bank cannot make a U-turn in a stormy sea," Lula said, adding that he had faith in new bank chief Gabriel Galipolo who would have "autonomy to do whatever is necessary."
Lula also sought to ease concerns over government interventions to lower food prices and vowed his commitment to "fiscal responsibility."
His government is weighing reducing import tariffs on certain goods, and he highlighted the need to provide more financing to ramp up production, saying he was working on a plan with banks for "the largest credit program in the history of this country."
Concerns over Brazil's ability to curb public spending in December sent its currency, the real, to record lows against the dollar.
© Agence France-Presse