Government prepares aid in stages for companies affected by tariffs Vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) stated this Tuesday (21) that Brazil will always seek to negotiate with the United States to resolve the crisis between the two countries caused by the 25% tax on Brazilian products, announced last week and which come into force on Wednesday (22). "Whatever depends on Brazil, always negotiate to seek to resolve these issues," said Alckmin. ? Last week, the US government confirmed the application of a new 25% tariff on Brazilian products after completing a trade investigation conducted by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The application begins this Wednesday (22) (see more details below). The vice president made the statement in an interview after the first round of meetings with the productive sectors that will be affected by the Donald Trump government's decision. Asked about the possibility of applying the Reciprocity Law against the United States, the vice president stated that the government is studying all possibilities and must adopt measures at the "appropriate time". "The idea is not retaliation. It is not retaliation. 'An eye for an eye', what could happen is that both of them go blind, right?", stated the vice president. Drone image of the Port of Santos (SP) Reuters ?The Reciprocity Law is a mechanism that allows a country to apply the same measures, restrictions or tariffs to another nation that it suffered from it. In practice, if a foreign government imposes "unfair" unilateral sanctions or barriers, Brazil uses the norm to react in kind, adopting equivalent restrictions to rebalance relations and protect the economy. This Tuesday, representatives of the Brazilian Association of Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq) stated that they are against the application of tariff reciprocity on American products exported to Brazil. Representatives from the machinery and equipment sector met with the vice-president and ministers Márcio Elias Rosa and Development, Industry and Commerce. The Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Márcio Elias Rosa, stated that the government is collecting information from the sectors most affected by the 25% tariff imposed by the United States to measure the impacts on jobs, competitiveness and company profits. According to the minister, the government is also working, in partnership with ApexBrasil, to open new markets for Brazilian products. “The North American government’s decision is still unfair and unreasonable, but that does not mean that the Brazilian government will stop helping the sector,” he stated. Understand the case Last week, the American government confirmed that it will apply a new 25% tariff on Brazilian products after concluding a trade investigation conducted by the Office of the US Trade Representative. ? The measure was adopted based on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a mechanism used by the American government to investigate practices considered harmful to the country's trade. Despite the new fee, an extensive list of products was excluded from the surcharge. The Brazilian government reacted by stating that the measure had no economic justification and was motivated by political reasons. In a statement, the Lula government classified the decision as a "regrettable milestone" in the bilateral relationship and stated that it could resort to the Economic Reciprocity Law.