Brazil Views US Tariffs as Challenge and Opportunity, Eyes Stronger India Ties

By siliconindia  |  Monday, 11 August 2025, 02:50:13 PM IST

Brazil Views US Tariffs as Challenge and Opportunity, Eyes Stronger India Ties
  • Brazil views US tariffs as both a challenge and an opportunity to seek trusted trade partners like India.
  • India and Brazil reaffirmed their strong strategic partnership during a recent fruitful call between their leaders.
  • US tariffs on Indian and Brazilian goods remain high, while India-US trade talks continue amid disagreements over agriculture sector access.
Brazil’s Ambassador to India, Kenneth Felix Haczynski, acknowledged the challenges posed by the United States administration’s imposition of high tariffs but also described the situation as an opportunity for Brazil to seek 'trusted partners' and expand trade relations.
“We suffer the imposition of unexpected high tariffs. We are seeing the tariffs imposed on our country as a challenge, but also an opportunity to look for trusted partners and to do more business”, the Brazilian envoy told ANI.
Both Brazil and India are currently subjected to 50 per cent tariffs under the trade policies of the Trump administration. Addressing how Brazil intends to respond to these tariffs, Ambassador Haczynski said the country remains open to negotiating trade deals, though always within the bounds of its sovereignty.
The envoy also described the recent telephonic conversation between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as 'very, very fruitful'. He emphasized that both nations are 'trusted partners' with a long history of cooperation, and they are exploring ways to deepen bilateral relations.
Prime Minister Modi received the call from President Lula on August 7, 2025. During the conversation, the leaders recalled Modi’s visit to Brazil the previous month, where they had agreed on a framework to enhance collaboration across multiple sectors including trade, technology, energy, defence, agriculture, health, and people-to-people ties. Both leaders reiterated their commitment to elevate the India-Brazil Strategic Partnership to new heights and exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Meanwhile, tensions persist in India-US trade relations. Over recent months, India and the US have been negotiating an interim trade deal. However, India has expressed reservations about US demands to open its agriculture and dairy sectors to American exports. These sectors are critical for India, as they provide livelihoods to a large portion of the population.
Despite hopes for an interim agreement that could have averted the escalation, President Donald Trump announced the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. This came even as both countries aimed to conclude the first stage of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by October-November 2025. Talks for a balanced and mutually beneficial BTA had begun in March of this year.
President Trump had signed an executive order on April 2, 2025, authorizing reciprocal tariffs ranging from 10 to 50 per cent on various trade partners, including India. Initially, these tariffs were kept in abeyance for 90 days with a 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed during this period. The deadline was initially July 9 but was extended to August 1.
Since assuming office for his second term, President Trump has repeatedly emphasized the need for tariff reciprocity, vowing that the United States would match tariffs imposed by other countries, including India, to 'ensure fair trade'. This stance has resulted in reciprocal tariffs being applied to dozens of countries with which the US has a trade deficit.
Amid these developments, Brazil’s ambassador’s comments underscore the importance of diversifying trade partnerships and deepening ties with nations like India, even as global trade dynamics remain volatile.

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