Brazilian president denounces U.S. tariff hike as unjustified trade bullying

China

Brazilian president denounces U.S. tariff hike as unjustified trade bullying

2025-08-17 10:37 Last Updated At：19:17

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a public speech on Friday that Brazil opposes tariff bullying and defends equal rules in international trade.

Lula's statement came after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on July 30 to implement an additional 40 percent tariff on Brazilian goods. This move escalates the tariff rates on most Brazilian exports to the United States to 50 percent, including meat, coffee and fruits, based on the so-called "reciprocal tariff" executive order issued by the United States in April.

In the speech, Lula said he believes that the reason given by the United States for imposing additional tariffs on Brazil is completely "groundless," and that the unreasonable accusations made by the United States against Brazil are driven by a unilateral hegemonic mentality.

"I cannot accept a president of a major country like the United States openly spreading so many falsehoods about Brazil. The United States has not incurred losses in its trade with Brazil. We do not want the fake 'multilateralism' where big countries bully small ones. That is not fair trade. Fair trade means equal rules for all countries," he said.

Lula affirmed that Brazil will steadfastly adhere to multilateralism, continuing to uphold a stable, open and predictable business environment to create more cooperation opportunities and development space for investors from around the world.

China launches coking coal options

China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) officially launched coking coal options on Friday, marking a new step in enhancing futures market services for the coal-coke-steel industrial chain and the real economy.

As a fundamental raw material for the steel industry, coking coal plays a vital role in ensuring the steady development of steel and related sectors. The listing of coking coal options signals further improvement in China's derivatives market service system.

"After the listing of coking coal options, these instruments will synergize with the existing coking coal futures, coke futures, and iron ore futures and options. This will further improve the risk management tool system for the coal-coke-steel industrial chain, provide more refined and diverse risk management solutions for enterprises, and safeguard their stable and sound operations," said Hu Gangxu, director of the futures derivatives department of Dalian Commodity Exchange.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coking coal. Its prime coking coal output accounts for more than 50 percent of global production, while consumption represents over 60 percent of the world total.