Brazilian President warns of imminent tariff war if US maintains trade threats

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned Monday that a tariff war could erupt at any time if the United States persists in imposing trade barriers on Brazilian goods.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally announced on July 9 a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports starting Aug. 1, Brazil has repeatedly said it will take reciprocal measures if negotiations cannot resolve the issue.

"We are currently not in a tariff war. The tariff war will start when I make my response, If Trump doesn't change his mind. Trump's reasons for increasing tariffs are inadequate. President Trump has an insufficient understanding on the fact that it is a trade surplus (for the United States). The fact is that for the past 15 years, Brazil has a deficit of 410 billion U.S. dollars in bilateral trade," Lula said when speaking to press after attending a high-level meeting with international leaders in Santiago, Chile.

On July 14, Lula announced the formation of an interministerial committee to coordinate economic and trade countermeasures to protect Brazil's economy.

China on Tuesday sent the Yaogan-50 01 remote sensing satellite into space.

Launched at 22:16 (Beijing Time) aboard a modified version of the Long March-6 rocket, the satellite has entered planned orbit, according to the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

It will be used for national land surveys, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and mitigation.