Lula was responding to Wednesday's threat by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to impose a 50% import tax on Brazilian goods from 1 August. In a letter, Trump cited Brazil's treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro as a trigger for tariff-hike.

Brazil’s President forcefully rebuked Trump after the U.S. leader called the prosecution of Lula’s predecessor, Bolsonaro, a “witch hunt” and hiked tariffs on the Latin American nation.

President Donald Trump sent out a slew of letters Wednesday to some global trading partners, advising them of tariff levels as high as 50% for their exports to the United States.