Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva explained his country to foreign companies in the inauguration of the Chinese automaker GWM’s factory in São Paulo.
The comments come when Brazil is confronted with steep American rates, which Lula has repeatedly denounced. By making the statement at an opening of a Chinese factory, Lula gave a possible pivot further away from Washington and to Beijing.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (CL) and the Chinese CEO of the Chinese Mugg (CR), China, raise their hands during the inauguration of the GWM Automobile Factory in Iracemapolis, Sao Paulo State, Brazil on August 15, 2025. (Nelson Almeida/AFP via Getty images)
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“Count on the Brazilian government. Who wants to leave, leave. Who wants to come, we welcome you with open arms,” Lula said during the ceremony, According to Reuters. The news agency also reported that he criticized the rates of President Donald Trump as ‘unnecessary turbulence’.
Both Brazil and China are confronted with rates, although at different levels. China’s ratesOnce as high as 145%, it is now at 30%, but could rise if Beijing and Washington do not reach a deal. Brazil is now confronted with a rate of 50% on its goods.
Lula and Chinese President Xi Jinping, both Brics leaders, spoke earlier in the week prior to the opening of the factory. The call followed Lulas Comments for Reuters That he was planning to raise the issue of responding to American rates with colleague -BRICS leaders.
Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes the hands of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after a signing ceremony and a joint press conference, in the large hall of the people on 13 May 2025 in Beijing, China. (Tingshu Wang – Pool/Getty images)
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On Wednesday, the Brazilian government unveiled a help package for companies injured by American rates. According to ReutersThe package focused on credit lines for exporters and government purchases of products that have difficulty finding new markets. The American rates on Brazil are expected to influence coffee, beef, seafood, textile, shoes and fruit industry, Reuters reported.
Earlier this month, Lula told Reuters that he was willing to talk to Trump, but would not “humiliate” himself by trying to involve while the American president “does not want to talk.” However, Trump has said that Lula is free to ‘talk to me when he wants’.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and President Donald Trump are rejecting about rates and treatment of Bolsonaro by Brazil. (Adriano Machado/Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
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Tensions between the two leaders go beyond the rates to politics. The Trump government has the treatment of Brazil of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest.
Trump commented on the situation in an executive order in which he denounced the “politically motivated persecution, intimidation, intimidation, censorship and persecution” of Bolsonaro of Brazil.
Lula told Reuters that the Supreme Court of Brazil “doesn’t matter what Trump says, and it shouldn’t be.” He also said that Bolsonaro was a “traitor of the home country” who should experience a different process for provoking Trump’s intervention.
