Brazilian president opposes US tariffs in phone call with Trump

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voiced strong opposition to new U.S. tariffs during a Friday phone call with President Donald Trump, calling for dialog and consultation to resolve their differences, according to a Brazilian government readout. During the one-hour-and-20-minute call, Lula and Trump discussed bilateral trade, cooperation on public safety, and international hotspot issues, it said.

Lula pointed out that the recent U.S. allegations justifying the imposition of additional tariffs on Brazil were unfounded, that these tariff measures were detrimental to both Brazil and the United States and that the two sides should continue to resolve their differences through dialog and consultation, according to the statement.

On July 15, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that, effective July 22, it would impose an additional 25-percent tariff on certain Brazilian products on top of existing tariffs. On July 23, citing so-called "forced labor," the U.S. imposed new tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent on dozens of countries and regions, including Brazil, to replace the global import tariffs set to expire.

In response, the Brazilian government announced on August 13 that it had launched retaliatory procedures under its Economic Reciprocity Law to counter the new tariff measures imposed by the U.S. government on Brazilian goods.

Brazilian president opposes US tariffs in phone call with Trump

The Trump administration has initiated procedures to pay 725 million U.S. dollars toward U.S. arrears owed to the United Nations, according to a State Department notification to Congress on Thursday.

The payment is expected to be completed before President Trump travels to New York next month to attend the UN General Assembly and deliver an address.

However, the 725 million U.S. dollars represents less than 20 percent of the total amount the United States owes.

In May, the United Nations said U.S. arrears exceeded 4 billion U.S. dollars. The U.S. side maintains that the actual total is lower than that figure.

Under the UN Charter, a member state may lose its voting rights in the General Assembly if its arrears equal or exceed the total assessments due for the preceding two years.

The United States is the largest contributor to the UN budget. The Trump administration had previously refused to pay some mandatory assessments for the UN regular budget and peacekeeping budget, cut voluntary funding to multiple UN agencies, and withdrawn from several international organizations.

US to pay 725 million dollars in overdue UN arrears