By Saurabh Sharma
New Delhi — Brazil does not want a “new Cold War“, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Sunday, urging the Trump administration to treat all countries equally ahead of a trip to meet the US president.
“I want to tell US President Donald Trump that we don’t want a new Cold War,” Lula told a press conference in New Delhi at the end of a three-day trip to India. “We don’t want to interfere in any other country; we want all countries to be treated equally.”
Lula, who has said he expects to meet Trump in Washington in the first week of March, said his agenda would include trade, immigration, investment and partnership between universities.
The leftist South American leader has differed with Trump on issues from the Republican president’s tariffs to Israel’s war in Gaza, the US seizure of Venezuelan President Maduro and Trump’s Board of Peace.
Lula declined to comment on Friday’s US Supreme Court decision striking down many of Trump’s tariffs on global goods entering the US, which Trump then said would be replaced by 15% levies under a different law.
But, Lula said, “I think relations between the US and Brazil will be in a better position.”
Meanwhile, India has delayed plans to send a trade delegation to Washington this week, chiefly because of uncertainty after the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, a source in its trade ministry said on Sunday.
I think relations between the US and Brazil will be in a better position.
— Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
One of the first concrete reactions among Asian nations to the decision, it follows Trump’s move on Saturday to levy a temporary tariff of 15%, the maximum allowed by law, on US imports from all countries, following the court’s rejection.
“The decision to defer the visit was taken after discussions between officials of the two countries,” said the source, who sought anonymity as the matter is a sensitive one. “No new date for the visit has been decided.”
The delay came mainly from the uncertainty over tariffs following Friday’s judgment, the source added.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.