Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures during a press conference in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday (February 22, 2026) urged U.S. President Donald Trump to treat all countries equally after the U.S. leader imposed a 15% tariff on imports following an adverse Supreme Court ruling.
“I want to tell the U.S. President Donald Trump that we don’t want a new Cold War. We don’t want interference in any other country, we want all countries to be treated equally,” Mr. Lula told reporters in New Delhi.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday (February 20, 2026) ruled six to three that a 1977 law Mr. Trump has relied on to slap sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade, “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs”.
Mr. Lula said he would not like to react to Supreme Court decisions of another country, but hoped that Brazil’s relations with the United States “will go back to normalcy” soon.
The veteran Brazilian leader is expected to travel to Washington next month for a meeting with Mr. Trump.
“I am convinced that Brazil-US relation will go back to normalcy after our conversation,” Mr. Lula, 80, said, adding Brazil only wanted to “live in peace, generate jobs, and improve lives of our people”.
Ties between Brazil and the United States appear to be on the mend after months of animosity between Washington and Brasilia.
As a result, Trump’s administration has exempted key Brazilian exports from 40 percent tariffs that had been imposed on on the South American country last year.
“The world doesn’t need more turbulence, it needs peace,” said Mr. Lula who arrived in India on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) to attend a summit on artificial intelligence.
On Saturday (February 21, 2026), India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths and signed a raft of other deals after a meeting between Lula and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Published – February 22, 2026 11:42 am IST
