US arguments for imposing tariffs “are not legitimate,” says Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said on Thursday (4) that he had demonstrated to US authorities that the arguments presented by the United States to impose tariffs on Brazilian products “are not legitimate,” according to a note from “Agência Brasil.” Vieira confirmed that he met with the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, during a ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. According to the minister, speaking to Globonews, Greer said he had “great conversations with Brazil” in the negotiations on tariffs. The Brazilian chancellor reported that he emphasized that the results of two US government investigations into alleged unfair trade practices were released ahead of the deadline agreed upon by the presidents of the two countries at a bilateral meeting held in May. “We gave all the necessary information. What we expect is that all this will be taken into account and that it will be proven that there is no reason for us to be subject to tariffs, because we have proven that all the arguments presented are not legitimate,” Vieira stated. Earlier this month, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a report recommending a 25% tariff on Brazilian products, justifying it with a series of actions, policies, and practices by Brazil considered "unreasonable" or "discriminatory." The investigation assessed areas such as digital commerce and electronic payment services, like Pix; granting preferential tariffs; intellectual property protection; combating corruption; access to the ethanol market; and illegal deforestation. Meetings In addition to the US Trade Representative, Vieira also met with the European Union Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, with whom he discussed the implementation of the Mercosur-EU agreement, in effect since May. Vieira also met with the South Korean Minister of Trade, Yeo Han Koo; the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares; the Canadian Minister of Foreign Trade, Maninder Sidhu; the President of Switzerland, Guy Parmelin; and the Czech Foreign Minister, Petr Macinka. 

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.