In a sharp rebuke to escalating economic tensions between the United States and Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has firmly rejected US President Donald Trump’s imposition of a sweeping 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports. Lula, speaking candidly in an interview with CNN on Thursday, criticized Trump’s aggressive trade move and declared that Brazil “will not accept anything imposed on it.”

The controversial tariff announcement came through a letter posted on Trump’s Truth Social platform last week, bypassing conventional diplomatic channels. In the letter, Trump declared the tariff would take effect on August 1 and framed it as a response to what he described as “unfair” Brazilian trade practices and political persecution of his ally, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula responded with incredulity. “When I read the letter, I thought it was fake news,” he told CNN. “It’s breaking away from any protocol, any liturgy, that should exist between the relations between two heads of state.” His frustration with the delivery of the message – on social media rather than through diplomatic means – was matched only by his contempt for its content.

“We cannot have President Trump forgetting that he was elected to govern the US – he was not elected to be the emperor of the world,” Lula said pointedly. “Brazil will not accept anything imposed on it. We accept negotiation, not imposition.”

Trump’s statement was laced with political undertones, particularly his demand for Brazil to halt what he called a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro. The........

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