Brazilian President Lula da Silva dials PM Modi day after snubbing Trump over tariff

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dialed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and both the countries agreed to enhancing cooperation in trade, technology, energy, defence, agriculture, health and people-to-people ties.

This comes a day after US President Donald Trump imposed additional 25 percent tariffs on India, taking the total to 50%. Brazil too faces 50% tariffs from the US.

"Had a good conversation with President Lula. Thanked him for making my visit to Brazil memorable and meaningful. We are committed to deepening our Strategic Partnership including in trade, energy, tech, defence, health and more. A strong, people-centric partnership between Global South nations benefits everyone," the PM posted on his X account.

As US tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50% on Wednesday, the Brazilian president said that he saw no room for direct talks now with Trump that would likely be a "humiliation."

Brazil is not about to announce reciprocal tariffs, he said. Nor will his government give up on cabinet-level talks. But Lula himself is in no rush to ring the White House.

"The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won't hesitate to call him," Lula said in an interview from his presidential residence in Brasilia. "But today my intuition says he doesn't want to talk. And I won't humiliate myself."

(With inputs from Reuters)