Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, in which he announced plans to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, as "absurd" and promised to respond in kind.

"If they demand 50% from us, we will also insist that they pay 50%. We are considering several possible responses," he said in an interview with the local TV Record station.

Lula once again pointed out the inaccuracies in the information about bilateral trade provided by Trump, who cited a trade deficit with Brazil as the reason for the move.

"He claims that the United States has a deficit with Brazil, but that is not true. In 2023, we exported goods worth $40 billion, while imports were worth $47 billion. We have a deficit of $7 billion. And if we calculate the total amount over the past 15 years, Brazil's deficit with the United States is $410 billion," the president stated.

"Did no one from the Ministry of Finance explain this to him before he wrote this absurd letter?"

CNN Brasil previously reported that Brasilia is seriously considering retaliatory measures. The Brazilian leader has already explained that Brazil will respond to U.S. tariffs based on the country's national law on reciprocal measures. The law was passed on April 11 and includes criteria for suspending trade concessions, investments, and obligations related to intellectual property rights.

TASS/gnews.cz - GH