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Igor Patrick

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Brazil that Beijing would continue to support its sovereignty, security, and development interests hours after a 25 per cent US tariff on Brazilian goods took effect.
Wang met Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on Wednesday in Manila, on the sidelines of the 59th meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers, where Vieira is also attending the third Brazil-Asean ministerial.
China would go on to “support Brazil in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests”, Wang said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout that described Brazil as an emerging economy with global influence and a representative voice of the Global South.
Wang paired the offer with a request, saying he trusted Brazil would “continue to respect and support China in defending its core interests”, the wording Beijing uses for Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Sovereignty has become the organising theme of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s response to Washington.


The US has imposed tariffs tied in part to the prosecution of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, and this month designated the First Capital Command and the Red Command as foreign terrorist organisations.
The US share of Brazilian exports fell to 9.4 per cent in the first half of the year, the lowest in the records of the American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil, while China’s share rose to 31.5 per cent from 28.9 per cent a year earlier.
China main trading partner of 14 Brazilian states
Brazilian exports to China reached US$58.3 billion in the six months – a record, according to the China-Brazil Business Council. Sales to the US fell 13 per cent to US$17.4 billion.
China is now the main trading partner for 14 Brazilian states, according to ApexBrasil figures. Two decades ago, 17 states counted the US as their largest market. Six do today.
Vieira said the two presidents had built a high level of mutual trust, elevating the relationship, adding that bilateral trade set a record last year.
Brazil wants “deeper cooperation in finance and trade and closer coordination at the United Nations and in Brics”, he said.
Wang proposed expanding cooperation in aerospace, connectivity, and artificial intelligence, and welcomed Brazil’s accession to the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico), a Chinese initiative that Vieira said Brazil hoped to use to broaden scientific and technological cooperation.
Brazil signed the founding agreement of Waico in Shanghai on July 16, becoming one of 29 initial signatories, which included Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Myanmar, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The organisation will be headquartered in Shanghai, and the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, attended the ceremony. No US or European Union government signed.
Brazilian participation ran through three ministries: foreign affairs, science and technology, and management and innovation in public services.
Their joint statement said the country’s accession would follow “applicable internal procedures”, including eventual ratification of the constitutive agreement, which requires a vote in Congress.


The agreement enters into force upon the deposit of three ratifications, and Brazil’s seat becomes a vote only after it deposits its own ratification.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the launch that artificial intelligence should not become “an exclusive game of a few countries and companies”, and offered Chinese technology to developing countries.
The signature came in the same week the US Trade Representative (USTR) confirmed the tariff on Brazilian goods.
That measure closes a Section 301 investigation into illegal deforestation, access to the ethanol market and Pix, the free payment system run by Brazil’s Central Bank. Amcham Brasil put the exposure above US$11 billion, or 26 per cent of what Brazil sells to the US.
Coffee, beef, orange juice, oil and gas and aerospace components were excluded, concentrating the cost on manufacturers.
A further surtax of up to 12.5 per cent, proposed by the USTR over forced labour in supply chains, remains under consideration for Brazil and 59 other countries.
Rare earths ‘belong to the Brazilian people’, Rosa says
Brazilian Development, Industry and Trade Minister Marcio Elias Rosa said US officials argued during the talks that critical minerals exploration should be denied to entities that do not operate on market terms, a reference to Beijing.
Rare earths and critical minerals “belong to the Brazilian people”, he said, adding that his team rejected the proposal.
China imported 12.08 million tonnes of Brazilian soybeans in June, up 13.7 per cent from a year earlier, while US volumes fell 20.6 per cent to 1.27 million tonnes.
Brazilian soybean revenue from China rose seven per cent in the half to US$20.2 billion, more than all that Brazil sold to the US in the period.
The gain came from prices, which rose 7.3 per cent, while shipped volume fell 0.2 per cent. Brazil’s surplus with China reached US$19.8 billion, or 47 per cent of its entire trade surplus, with soybeans and crude oil accounting for most of the sales.


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China

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Wang Yi tells Brazilian foreign minister Beijing backs Brazil’s sovereignty, and asks for support on ‘China’s own core interests’ in return


Wang Yi tells Brazilian foreign minister Beijing backs Brazil’s sovereignty, and asks for support on ‘China’s own core interests’ in return.


China vows to defend Brazil’s sovereignty as Trump’s 25% tariff bites

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Wang Yi tells Brazilian foreign minister Beijing backs Brazil’s sovereignty, and asks for support on ‘China’s own core interests’ in return

Wang Yi tells Brazilian foreign minister Beijing backs Brazil’s sovereignty, and asks for support on ‘China’s own core interests’ in return