Lula 'prioritized his own ego over the agreement' and did not 'negotiate with the US in good faith': Trump minister's attack after tariff Evaristo Sa and KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images When announcing the decision to apply 25% tariffs on a series of Brazilian products exported to the US, American Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) "prioritized his own ego over an agreement that aims at the well-being of the Brazilian people". On his social networks, the secretary, who is part of the ideological wing of the Trump government and is known for his hard-line policy against countries in Latin America, said that taxation is the price that Brazil pays for Lula's behavior. Still according to Rubio, the president and his government "did not negotiate with the US in good faith." "Let there be no doubt about the reason [for the tariffs]: President Lula and his government did not negotiate with the US in good faith," he wrote in Authorities linked to the Brazilian government told BBC News Brasil in a reserved manner, however, that the Americans were never in fact willing to listen to Brazilian arguments in relation to the accusations made by the USTR. According to a source at Palácio do Planalto, the motivation for the tariffs would be political and the US would not be open to negotiation based on considered commercial elements. PIX, STF, social networks: understand the US criticism for proposing a 25% tariff US investigation against PIX exposes global dispute for control of digital payments The application of the tariffs was announced by Rubio and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) after the end of the investigation into Brazilian commercial practices considered unfair conducted by the body. The decision is endorsed by American President Donald Trump and will come into force on July 22. The tariff was justified by alleging practices such as favoring Pix, access to the ethanol market and problems related to corruption and deforestation. According to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the measure seeks to protect US economic interests and is necessary "to confront unfair trade practices and ensure that American workers and companies can compete under fair conditions." He also stated that negotiations between the two countries over the last year did not resolve the differences, but that Washington remains open to new conversations with Brasília. The list of products targeted by tariffs is extensive and includes ethanol, agricultural machinery, clothing and footwear and electrical material. Items such as coffee, oranges, orange juice and beef, for example, were excluded from the additional charge. In a statement, the Brazilian government repudiated the announced decision, saying that July 15th "will go down in the history of relations between Brazil and the USA as a regrettable milestone". Also according to the note, Brazil will begin the procedures to activate the Reciprocity Law approved by the National Congress and will take the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The announcement was already expected by diplomats interviewed privately by BBC News Brasil and by the Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC), Márcio Elias Rosa. In an interview given two weeks ago to BBC News Brasil, the minister stated that the Brazilian government was still trying to negotiate a last-minute agreement with Washington, but already admitted the possibility of an unfavorable outcome for the country. The new tariff, the second in a year, is the result of an investigation opened in July last year, based on Section 301 of the United States Trade Act of 1974. The mechanism allows the American government to investigate foreign commercial practices that it considers unfair or discriminatory against United States companies and products and, at the end of the process, adopt retaliatory measures such as the application of import tariffs. In the Brazilian case, the main targets of the investigation were: - alleged irregularities relating to the operation of Pix; - court decisions against North American digital platforms; - tariffs granted by Brazil to products from Mexico and India that would harm the USA and; - alleged failures in combating corruption, piracy and illegal deforestation. Flávio Bolsonaro's reaction Senator and pre-candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) republished Marco Rubio's post about Lula and taxation and said that the PT member "is no longer capable of being the president of Brazil". "Brazilian Biden is surly, inconsequential and has become a danger to our nation. Anyone who looks at Lula doesn't see the future. They see the past, delay, uncertainty, distrust, corruption, incompetence, revenge... Enough!", he wrote in X, in reference to former American president Joe Biden. Lula accuses his opponent of having advocated in favor of taxation against Brazil in meetings at the White House. Flávio met with Trump days before the USTR recommended the application of the tariff. The son of former president Jair Bolsonaro denies the accusations and claims to have asked Washington to suspend the imposition. USA formalizes 25% tariff on Brazilian products Who is Marco Rubio? The current Secretary of State is one of the main officials linked to the White House in charge of trade negotiations with Brazil, in addition to Jamieson Greer and other USTR technicians. Last year, when Trump imposed a 50% surtax on Brazil in protest against the country's lawsuit against former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Rubio was officially appointed by the American president to deal with the issue. The previous taxation was revoked in November, after negotiations between governments. In addition to the tariff, Rubio led sanctions against Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Alexandre de Moraes — whom he accused of carrying out a "witch hunt" against Bolsonaro in the process that condemned the former president to a coup d'état. Subsequently, Moraes and his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, were removed from the sanctioned list. Rubio was also at the forefront of revoking the visas of Brazilian authorities in retaliation for the Mais Médicos Program, such as the current Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha. The Secretary of State is part of the ideological wing of the Trump administration and is known for his hard-line policy against countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and China — the latter, Brazil's main trading partner. The relationship between the two countries was even criticized by Rubio when he was a senator. At the time, he was also directly criticizing President Lula. In an April 2023 post, he suggested that the Brazilian president was a "radical anti-American" due to a visit by the Brazilian president to Chinese technology company Huawei. He also questioned whether Lula is an "ally of democracy" after his trip to China. "Lula is thinking about himself and Brazil, even if it means bowing to China's genocidal regime," he said in a publication on X. In September 2024, Rubio again cited the Brazilian government because of the suspension of X in the country. The blockade was ordered by minister Alexandre de Moraes after Elon Musk, owner of X, failed to comply with a court decision and lasted around 40 days. Rubio said the measure, under the Lula government, "raised serious concerns about freedom of expression" in the country. The American Secretary of State also repeatedly criticized Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, calling him a "human rights violator". Moraes was the rapporteur of the action that condemned former president Jair Bolsonaro for a coup d'état. After the US announces new taxes on Brazil, the government says it will activate the Reciprocity Law 'Deepening the rupture before the elections' and 'high risks': how the international press reported a 25% US tariff against Brazil