With the U.S. tariff deadline fast approaching, countries without trade agreements with Washington – such as Brazil and India – have made it clear they will not bow to pressure. Both nations have vowed to take all necessary steps to safeguard their national interests.
The U.S. government has threatened to impose steep tariffs beginning August 1l, targeting nations that have not signed bilateral trade deals. Among them, Brazil is set to face a 50 percent tariff on its exports to the United States.
In an interview published by The New York Times on Wednesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he had attempted to contact U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the issue but received no response. While he acknowledged that the tariff threat was “concerning,” he emphasized that Brazil is “not afraid” and will not yield.
“If he wants to have a political fight, then let’s treat it as a political fight. If he wants to talk trade, let’s sit down and discuss trade. But you can’t mix everything together,” Lula argued.
Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, a professor at Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation, criticized the U.S. trade policy for sowing uncertainty among Brazilian industries that rely on U.S. markets.
The U.S. has indiscriminately unleashed a “tariff machine gun,” with no justification, creating a deep sense of insecurity among all its trading partners – who are now being forced to seek new markets for diversification, the professor said.
India is also pushing back. On Wednesday, Trump announced via social media that the U.S. would impose a 25 percent tariff on Indian exports and implement other punitive measures starting August 1.
In response, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a statement saying it had taken note of the U.S. president’s remarks and stressed that India would take all necessary steps to protect its interests.
Dilip Kumar, chairman of the Medical Tourism division at the Chamber of Commerce, argued that the new tariffs would ultimately harm U.S. consumers more than Indian exporters.
Kumar noted that Trump was effectively trying to hurt the U.S. market, not India’s, emphasizing that the issue came down to cost. He explained that if American buyers previously paid $100 for a product from India, they would now have to pay $125, as Indian exporters would pass the 25 percent tariff on to them.
