Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday said he would not take orders over tariffs from a foreigner, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump, and later called the United States’ threatened duty “unacceptable blackmail.”
The comments, made during two separate events, mark a continuation of a spat between the two leaders that escalated when the U.S. announced a 50% tariff on Brazil last week.
Trump attributed the tariff, set to start in August, to Brazil’s treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro and to trade practices against U.S. companies that he said are unfair. The tariff announcement came days after Lula called Trump an “emperor” the world does not want.
Lula and members of his cabinet have rejected the reasoning behind the tariffs and insisted on Brazil’s sovereignty, while calling for trade negotiations with the United States.
“No foreigner is going to give orders to this president,” Lula said in a speech, using the slang word ‘gringo’, which in Brazil is a common term for foreigners without the pejorative sense it carries in other parts of Latin America.