The Brazilian government presented its aid package this Wednesday for companies affected by the 50 percent tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration. This includes a 30 billion reais (€4.75 billion) credit line and requires congressional approval.
This was announced by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his social media account, X, where he specified that this is an “initial set of measures to mitigate the economic impact” of the tariffs on Brazilian imports that the White House leader announced at the end of last July.
The core of this aid package is a 30 billion real (4.75 billion euros) credit line, the granting of which is linked to job preservation, in addition to the granting of export credits and the deferral of tax payments to the most affected companies.
In any case, this is a provisional measure, as it requires Congressional approval within 120 days to take effect.
During the presentation of the aid package, the Brazilian president emphasized that his government “was not announcing reciprocal measures” but was instead focused on diversifying its activity by negotiating with partners such as India, China, and Russia, all members of the BRICS. “We do not want, in the first instance, to do anything that could cause a deterioration in our relations (with the United States),” he stated.
For her part, the Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, stated during the event that “Brazil and the world are witnesses that this situation, which we consider to be true blackmail, was provoked by those who attempted to abolish the democratic rule of law and are now answering for their crimes before the law and justice system.”
Last week, the US president imposed import tariffs of 50 percent on a wide range of Brazilian products, such as meat and coffee, in an attempt to halt the legal proceedings facing former President Jair Bolsonaro for orchestrating the attempted coup against his predecessor in early 2023.
