The 50% tariff on Brazilian products announced by U.S. President Donald Trump may have been a “shot in the foot” for the far right and a “gift”, from a political point of view, to the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party). That’s what José Arbex Jr., a journalist and professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP, in Portuguese), said in an interview with BdF.
For Arbex, Lula’s response to the U.S. threat, saying that Trump should “suck a jaboticaba [a Brazilian fruit also known as Brazilian grape]” captured popular sentiment in the face of the attack on the Brazilian economy. “He managed to translate the feeling Trump’s threat produced in Brazil. It was a clear shot in the foot,” Arbex says. The professor compares the national reaction to the episode in Iran, when attacks by the U.S. and Israel generated internal unity against imperialism.
Arbex argues that the Brazilian president should take advantage of the situation to strengthen his alignment with the Global South and resume a foreign policy that confronts the United States’ hegemony. “Lula should clearly show that, within the National Congress, there are those who are in favor of imperialism, of intervention. And there are Brazilians who don’t support foreign interventionism and are in favor of national sovereignty. He should say this in all his letters, explain it to the population, show what is at stake today, to capitalize on this moment,” he suggests.
In the journalist’s view, the Brazilian government could also use the episode as a platform for its re-election campaign in the 2026 election. “It was a gift put into his hands. I don’t know if the Lula government will be able to take advantage of this gift and mobilize the Brazilian nation against imperialism, which is what he should definitely be doing,” he adds.
Despite acknowledging specific advances, such as the response to the tariff, Arbex criticizes what he sees as the Brazilian government’s hesitancy to join the New Silk Road and strengthen the BRICS. “It [the Lula government] is hesitant not to declare [more emphatically] that Brazil is part of the Global South and that it is committed to the Global South. Brazilian entrepreneurs’ future depends more on these alliances than on gestures from the United States,” he says.
Time to act
Lorenzo Santiago, BdF’s correspondent in Venezuela, also points out that the measure could bring Lula closer to the national business community. “As much as Brazil doesn’t have a nationalist, developmentalist bourgeoisie, when they feel it in their pockets, they all run to defend their own side. Lula finds this loophole to call on the business community, put the defense of national sovereignty at the forefront and make anti-imperialism a priority,” he explains.
Lorenzo draws parallels to what happened in Venezuela, where the business community, after initially supporting sanctions against the government, began to take a stand against the U.S. blockade. “The Venezuelan government took advantage of this situation and called on businesspeople to refine their discourse and public positioning. It’s a gift that Lula can take advantage of. The ball is ready to be shot at the goal,” he concludes.
