Unjustified: President Lula slams Trump over tariffs and sanctions on Brazil
The Brazilian government issued a statement reiterating its willingness to engage in trade negotiations with the United States. However, it emphasised that Brazil will not give up the tools it has under national law to defend itself, hinting that retaliation could be possible.The statement criticised the use of "political arguments" by the US to justify the tariffs. It also expressed support for Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who recently faced US sanctions, describing such measures as an "unacceptable" interference in Brazil's judicial system.Brazilian industry lobby, the CNI, has estimated that that the imposition of 50% US import tariffs could result in the loss of over 100,000 jobs and knock off 0.2 percentage points from Brazil's annual economic growth, resulting in a downfall for economic growth and employment . Brazil's agribusiness lobby, CNA, warns exports to the US -- the country's second-largest trading partner -- could fall by half. And this is an especially delicate juncture for Brazil.The tensions escalated on April 2, declared as the Liberation Day by Trump, Brazil faced the minimum 10% tariff rate, but if a deal is not reached by the end of this week, South America's largest economy is staring at a whopping 50% levy imposed by US.BRAZILIAN OFFICIALS FRUSTRATED OVER US RESPONSEA Brazilian government official expressed frustration over the lack of dialogue from the US, saying, "Trade deals are a result of negotiations, but there is no dialogue if the US doesn't respond to our letters. I'm worried."Despite the challenges, Brazilian Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron remained cautiously optimistic, stating, "We're not facing the worst-case scenario. It's a more benign outcome than it could have been."The tariffs imposed have excluded Brazilian exports to US in sectors like civil aircraft, pig iron, precious metals, wood pulp, energy and fertilizers. Despite the exemptions, Brazilian trade secretary Welber Barral stated that there will be an impact.According to Rafael Favetti, a partner at the political consultancy Fatto Inteligencia Politica in Brasilia, the exceptions probably stem from worries of US firms, rather than representing a retreat from Trump's attempts to manipulate Brazilian politics.- EndsWith inputs from ReutersTune InMust Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
15 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Ex-SC judge flags executive interference in judges' appointment process
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur on Wednesday said there had been a considerable interference by the executive in the appointment process of judges. He was speaking at an event organised by The Global Jurists on the topic 'Morality in Judiciary, A Paradigm or a Paradox'. "Now, about the appointment of judges. We have had a lot of problems in the recent past. There has been, I think, a considerable interference by the executive in the appointment process," he said. "The Memorandum of Procedure (MOP) was finalised a long time back. But despite the MOP, which was, by the way, drafted in consultation with the Government of India, there have been all kinds of problems in its implementation," Justice Lokur added. In the appointment of judges, the former the former apex court judge said, "I believe, for reasons, that it has nothing to do with his merit. But it has something to do with a few cases that they decided,". He said that if the appointment process of judges was in the hands of the executive, "a kind of mischief" could be played. "You can appoint some person in the beginning, and a senior person can be kept pending for about six months or seven months so that he loses or he or she loses the seniority, and this is what is happening. Outstanding advocates who should have been appointed are not being appointed," Justice Lokur said. He said the process of making the appointment process less opaque needed to be deliberated upon. "Opaque not only from the side of the collegium of the high court or the collegium of the Supreme Court, but also from the side of the government," Justice Lokur said. He said that at present there were two impeachment motions pending against judges, one against Justice Yashwant Varma in the Parliament and the second against Justice Shekhar Yadav with the Rajya Sabha Chairperson. "I think for the first time in the history of the country, two impeachment motions are pending. I think we have to be very careful about the kind of persons that we appoint, and second, to keep a check on the judges while they are on the bench to make sure that these kinds of incidents do not happen," Justice Lokur said. Underlining the importance of delivering easily understandable judgments, he said, "I had to deal with a couple of judgments written by a particular judge. The English that he used, nobody could understand. The judges could not understand it. The lawyers could not understand it. So you know, this kind of quality is being demonstrated now." Regarding the transfer of judges, he said, "On the other hand, we have situations where judges are being transferred left and right without any reason. Delhi has had the experience in the recent past of Justice S Muralidhar (from Delhi High Court) -- everybody knows that this was during the riots in 2020, for passing an order which, for some reason, the government did not like." Justice Lokur, on post-retirement appointment of judges, said, "Now we have had a situation where a former Chief Justice of India has been apparently rewarded by a seat in the Rajya Sabha. We have another judge who has been rewarded with the governorship of one state. The third judge has also been awarded the governorship of another state." "We have had judges who have retired and joined politics immediately after. We had a sitting judge who resigned and joined politics, and actually got elected as a member of Parliament. We need to sort things out," he added.
The Hindu
15 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Brazil's Bolsonaro appeals house arrest order
Lawyers for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appealed on Wednesday a house arrest order imposed against him earlier this week, a document sent to the Supreme Court and seen by Reuters showed. Mr. Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest on Monday (August 4, 2025) after an order was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes against him. Mr. Moraes' decision cited a failure to comply with restraining orders he had imposed on Mr. Bolsonaro for allegedly courting U.S. President Donald Trump's interference in the case. Mr. Bolsonaro's lawyers had already said that they would appeal the decision to place him under house arrest. In the document sent on Wednesday (August 6, 2025), the lawyers said that Mr. Bolsonaro did not breach the restraining orders. They also asked for the house arrest order to be voted on by a wider panel of Supreme Court Justices.
Mint
15 minutes ago
- Mint
Indian stock market: 8 key things that changed for market overnight - Gift Nifty, US tariffs on India to Apple shares
Indian stock market: The domestic equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Thursday, after the US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, bringing the combined tariffs to 50%. Asian markets traded mixed, while the US stock market ended higher, lifted by a rally in Nasdaq. On Wednesday, the Indian stock market ended lower after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the repo rate unchanged, and maintain the policy stance to 'Neutral'. The Sensex fell 166.26 points, or 0.21%, to close at 80,543.99, while the Nifty 50 settled 75.35 points, or 0.31%, lower at 24,574.20. 'We expect the market to continue its consolidation as investor sentiment remains cautious amid India-US trade tensions and the ongoing Q1 earnings announcements,' said Siddhartha Khemka - Head Of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Here are key global market cues for Sensex today: Asian markets traded mixed on Thursday after Trump's vow to impose a 100% tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.66%, while the Topix index gained 0.19%. South Korea's Kospi rallied 0.53% while the Kosdaq was flat. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures indicated a weaker opening. Gift Nifty was trading around 24,594 level, a discount of nearly 40 points from the Nifty futures' previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market indices. US stock market ended higher on Wednesday, led by a more than 1% gain in the Nasdaq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 81.38 points, or 0.18%, to 44,193.12, while the S&P 500 rallied 45.87 points, or 0.73%, to 6,345.06. The Nasdaq Composite closed 252.87 points, or 1.21%, higher at 21,169.42. Apple share price jumped 5.1%, Amazon shares rallied 4.00%, Microsoft shares fell 0.53%, and Nvidia stock price gained 0.65%. Tesla share price rallied 3.62%, McDonald's shares rose 3%, while Arista Networks shares jumped 17.5%. Advanced Micro Devices stock price slumped 6.4% and Super Micro Computer shares plunged 18.3%. Walt Disney shares eased 2.7%. US President Donald Trump slapped an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, citing the country's alleged direct and indirect import of oil from the Russian Federation, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50%. Apple share price jumped 5% after US President Donald Trump announced that the company will invest an additional $100 billion in the United States, a move which will expand its domestic investment commitment and could help it sidestep potential tariffs on iPhones. The new pledge brings Apple's total investment commitment in the US to $600 billion. Earlier this year, the company had announced it would invest $500 billion and hire 20,000 workers across the country over the next four years, Reuters reported. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said that for him, the cooling US labor market and a slowing economy adds up to a case for interest rate cuts in coming months. 'The economy is slowing, and that means in the near term it may become appropriate to start adjusting,' Kashkari said on CNBC's Squawk Box, adding that two quarter-percentage-point rate cuts by the end of the year 'seems reasonable to me.' The dollar remained lower against major peers. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major peers, edged up 0.1% to 98.259, after a 0.6% slide in the previous session, Reuters reported. The US currency was little changed at 147.36 yen. The euro stood at $1.1654, down almost 0.1%. Gold prices rose, helped by a weaker dollar on growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. Spot gold price rose 0.1% to $3,372.97 per ounce, while US gold futures gained 0.3% to $3,442.20. (With inputs from Reuters) Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
