BRASILIA (Reuters)

Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin on Wednesday called for caution, stating that the country would seek dialogue with the United States following President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports.

Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Alckmin emphasized Brazil’s openness to dialogue and intentions to reach out to the Trump administration. He suggested that quotas could serve as a beneficial alternative.

As one of the largest sources of U.S. steel imports, Alckmin noted that the U.S. runs a trade surplus with Brazil, indicating that Latin America’s largest economy was not the problem.

Trump, having started his second non-consecutive term last month, originally targeted steel and aluminum for tariffs in 2018 under a Cold War-era national security law. However, he later granted exemptions to several countries, including Canada, Mexico, and Australia, and established duty-free quota deals for Brazil, South Korea, and Argentina based on pre-tariff volumes.

“In the past, when tariffs were increased, quotas were set. That’s a smart mechanism,” remarked Alckmin, who also serves as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s minister of development, industry, and trade.

Since 2008, the United States has maintained a trade surplus with Brazil, which amounted to $253 million last year across more than $80 billion of bilateral trade.

On Tuesday, Brazilian steelmakers’ lobby group Aco Brasil expressed surprise over Trump’s upcoming tariffs, set to commence in March, arguing that such measures would not favor either nation.

In 2024, Brazil’s steel exports fell to 9.6 million tons, an 18% decline compared to 2023, according to Aco Brasil data, with 3.4 million tons of steel slabs sent to the U.S.

Aco Brasil head Marco Polo de Mello Lopes expressed optimism regarding the potential for dialogue but acknowledged that the Brazilian government has limited time to negotiate with Washington to maintain the existing quota system. “This (current) agreement has now been in effect for about six years, and if it lasted that long, it’s because it was beneficial for both parties,” Lopes stated.