China's Xi and Brazil's Lula hold phone call amid US trade rupture
sudden rupture in trade relations with the United States.
The call on Tuesday morning Beijing time, requested by Lula, had been in preparation for several days, according to Brazilian officials. Advisers at the Planalto Palace and the foreign ministry had been in contact with Beijing since last week to arrange the timing, which had to accommodate the 11-hour time difference with the Chinese capital.
Sources told the South China Morning Post that the decision to press ahead came after Lula consulted senior ministers about the potential impact of new US trade measures and the diplomatic message he wanted to send.
The conversation took place four days after US President Donald Trump's administration
imposed a 50 per cent tariff on a broad range of Brazilian exports, measures that threaten billions of dollars in annual trade.
Hours earlier, Washington extended a 90-day pause on similar duties for Chinese goods, highlighting a stark difference in treatment between Beijing and Brasilia.
02:12
Brazil plans to retaliate against US tariffs that partly aim to free former leader Bolsonaro
Brazil plans to retaliate against US tariffs that partly aim to free former leader Bolsonaro
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
17 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Why smear Hong Kong's prosecution of secession as political persecution?
The Hong Kong government recently declared bounties against a number of former residents now in the United Kingdom and the United States for alleged offences against the Hong Kong national security law . This prompted a strong reaction from the UK government, which considered the move to be an example of ' transnational repression '. This week, The Guardian published an interview with Chloe Cheung Hei-ching , who faces a warrant for her arrest that was issued last year. Its article portrayed her as someone fleeing political persecution for daring to criticise the Hong Kong government and advocate for democratic reform. This framing is misleading. Cheung is being charged with incitement to secession and foreign collusion. Contrary to common misconceptions, the national security law does not criminalise political advocacy or criticism of the authorities. The Hong Kong Basic Law stipulates in Articles 45 and 68 that universal suffrage is a political ideal for the entire city. Moreover, according to the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, defendants can argue against the statutory offence of sedition – inherited from British colonial times – in court if they were giving 'an opinion on the system or constitutional order … with a view to improving the system or constitutional order'. However, Hong Kong's national security laws do in fact criminalise acts of secession. According to Article 52 of the Chinese constitution, citizens have the obligation to safeguard national unity. Article 1 of the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong is an 'inalienable part of the People's Republic of China'. What is more, those in the UK, in particular, should not lose sight of Article 1 of the Sino-British Joint Declaration , which states that it is the 'common aspiration of the entire Chinese people' that China should resume sovereignty over Hong Kong.
South China Morning Post
17 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
China seeks to bolster demand by subsidising interest costs on consumer loans
China has launched a year-long plan to offer interest subsidies for personal consumer loans as part of Beijing's broader efforts to unlock household spending power and shore up domestic demand. Individuals who take out consumer loans for purchases – including single transactions below 50,000 yuan (US$6,958) and higher amounts for purchases in key sectors such as cars and education – will have part of their interest costs covered by the government, according to the plan released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration. The authorities said the plan aims to 'better leverage fiscal funds to support and guide consumption, lower the cost of consumer credit for households, and help unlock their spending potential'. The plan will subsidise one percentage point of the annual interest on loans, capped at half of the contracted loan interest rate. The central government will cover 90 per cent of the subsidy cost, with provincial governments responsible for the remaining 10 per cent. It will run from September 1 until the end of August next year, and the authorities said they might consider extending or expanding it after assessing its effectiveness. This new personal consumer loan subsidy targets the demand side, directly benefiting individual consumers Ministry of Finance official China's top leadership has made boosting consumption a top policy priority, with Beijing having already rolled out a 30-point policy package and allocated 300 billion yuan to a consumer goods trade‑in programme.
South China Morning Post
27 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
US and Chinese trade teams to meet again in 2 to 3 months, Trump's Treasury chief says
US trade officials will meet again with their Chinese counterparts within the next two or three months to discuss the future of the economic relationship between the two countries, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday. The comments come a day after the trading partners extended a tariff truce for another 90 days, staving off triple-digit duties on each other's goods. In an interview on Fox Business Network's Kudlow, Bessent also said Chinese President Xi Jinping had invited Trump to a meeting, but one had not been scheduled. 'There's no date,' Bessent said. 'The president hasn't accepted yet.' Trump told CNBC earlier this month that the US and China were getting very close to a trade agreement and he would meet Xi before the end of the year if a deal was struck. Bessent also said on Fox Business that the US will need to see 'months, if not quarters, if not a year' of progress on fentanyl flows before it considers reducing tariffs on China.
