Brazil's Lula threatens 'reciprocity' in US steel tariff row

Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday vowed "reciprocity" in response to a 25-percent levy on steel imports announced by US President Donald Trump.

"There is no doubt, there will be reciprocity" from Brazil -- the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada, Lula told Radio Clube do Para.

Brazil sent 4.08 million tonnes of the metal to the United States in 2024.

Earlier this week, Brazil's Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha said the country had no intention of entering into a trade war with the United States, though Lula had earlier vowed that any US tariffs on his country would be met in kind.

The leftist leader has said he would prefer to "improve our relationship with the United States" and boost trade ties with Brazil's second-largest trading partner after China."

Trump imposed similar steel tariffs during his first term of office to protect US producers faced with what he complained to be unfair competition.

Brazil was exempted after agreeing to import quotas.