President Donald Trump said he expects to meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during his trip to Asia and is open to cutting US tariffs by 50 percent on Brazilian imports.
“Under the right circumstances, of course,” Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One.
Brazil is trying to organize the meeting on the sidelines of this weekend’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia. Lula is seeking to persuade Trump to lift tariffs on Brazilian goods and sanctions on the country’s Supreme Court justices, government officials and their families.
“I hope that happens,” Lula told reporters Saturday in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, ahead of Trump’s arrival. “I came here with the intention of finding a solution.”
“It all depends on the conversation,” Lula said. “There are no demands from his side, nor from mine so far. Let’s put the issues on the table and try to find a solution.”
Trump said he believed the leaders had planned to meet during the summit. Lula left his schedule open for Sunday afternoon, possibly for a meeting. Trump’s schedule also includes a non-committal gap around the same time.
“I am very interested in this meeting,” Lula told reporters in Indonesia on Friday, before departing for Malaysia. “I am absolutely ready to defend Brazil’s interests and show that the tariffs imposed on Brazil were wrong.”