RIO DE JANEIRO (AP \u2014 Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said Saturday that Brazilian exported goods to the U.S. including coffee, beef and tropical fruits would still be tariffed 40%, despite President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to remove some import taxes.<\/p>\n
In a dramatic move on Friday, Trump scrapped levies announced in April on what he called \u2018Liberation Day\u2019 in hopes of encouraging domestic production and lifting the U.S. economy. Brazil at the time was hit with a 10% tariff.<\/p>\n
But in July, Trump imposed a further 40% tariff, citing \u2014 among other reasons \u2014 the trial of his ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro, which he called a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d Proceedings went ahead regardless and in September Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup.<\/p>\n
Alckmin said some products, such as orange juice, would now have a zero tariff as they were not targeted by the additional 40%. But that extra tariff remains in place on products including coffee, beef and tropical fruits, such as mangos and pineapples.<\/p>\n
While Brazil\u2019s vice president welcomed Trump\u2019s latest decision, which he called \u201cpositive\u201d and a \u201cstep in the right direction,\u201d he said there remained a \u201cdistortion that needs to be corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone got 10% less, but in Brazil\u2019s case, which had 50%, we ended up with 40%, which is very high,\u201d Alckmin told journalists in the capital Brasilia.<\/p>\n
Alckmin said that Friday’s decision means that 26% of Brazilian goods are now entering the U.S. without additional tariffs. That’s up from 23%.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s July decision, which was overtly political as Brazil has a trade deficit with the United States, led to the worst U.S.-Brazil relations in history.<\/p>\n
Those relations have since improved, and in October Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva and Trump met in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Lula\u2019s conversation with President Donald Trump was important in terms of dialogue and negotiation,\u201d Alckmin said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
After that encounter, Lula said he was confident the two countries would soon reach a trade deal.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Brazil\u2019s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira met for 50 minutes this week to further the conversation.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has insisted that its tariffs helped fill government coffers and weren\u2019t a major factor in higher prices at grocery stores around the country. But Democrats were quick to paint Friday\u2019s move as an acknowledgment that Trump\u2019s policies were hurting American pocketbooks.<\/p>\n
Record-high beef prices have been a particular concern, and Trump had said he intended to take action to try and lower them. Trump\u2019s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, had been a factor.<\/p>\n
Back in Brazil, the Brazilian Association of the Coffee Industry said it would continue to monitor the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201c(We) will keep working to ensure legal certainty, competitiveness, and predictability for the Brazilian coffee industry,\u201d the group\u2019s president, Pavel Cardoso, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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