New Delhi [India], August 12 : Ambassador of Brazil to India, Kenneth Felix Haczynski, said that US President Donald Trump's high tariffs on India and Brazil pose a challenge, but are also an opportunity to seek trusted partners.
Haczynski, while speaking to ANI, said that the Brazilian side expressed their willingness to increase their cooperation with India.
He said, "The unexpected imposition of high tariffs presents both a challenge and an opportunity for our country to seek out trusted partners and expand business relations. During a conversation with PM Modi, we highlighted the long-standing relationship between the two countries, emphasising their potential to do more together. Brazil is open to negotiating tariffs, though within the limits of its sovereignty."
The new levies raise the US' effective tariff rate above 17 per cent, the highest tax since the Great Depression, as per CNN.
After threatening India with a combined 50 per cent tariff rate - set to take effect later this month -Trump said he's not keen on engaging in more negotiation talks with India.
"Not until we get it resolved," he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Most goods from India are being charged a minimum 25 per cent tariff. Trump threatened an additional 25 per cent tariff if India doesn't cease purchasing oil from Russia by August 27.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended his decision not to bow to US trade threats and face steep tariffs as a result. "For us, the interest of our farmers is our top priority. India will never compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers. I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it, but I am ready for it," he said, CNN quoted.
Trump signed executive actions on Wednesday imposing a 50 per cent tariff on Brazil, a 50 per cent tariff on certain copper products and suspending a tax perk for all countries that allowed cheap packages to fly into the US duty-free.
Trump had previously threatened to impose the 50 per cent tariff on Brazil effective August 1 in a letter he sent earlier this month to the country's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In that letter, Trump threatened the hefty tariff if Brazil did not end its trial against right-wing former president, Jair Bolsonaro.