Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held a telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in response to recent tariff measures imposed by the United States against both countries.

The Trump administration raised tariffs by up to 50 percent on Brazilian products, while India will face an additional 25 percent increase as retaliation for its purchase of Russian oil.

During their discussion, Lula and Modi addressed the international economic landscape and stressed the need to strengthen multilateralism in a context marked by unilateral decisions affecting global trade.

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing bilateral integration and reiterated their goal of raising trade between their countries to more than 20 billion dollars by 2030.

According to an official statement from Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil and India are currently the countries most affected by Washington’s new tariff policy.

As part of the commitments made, Lula’s official visit to India was confirmed for early 2026. Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin will travel in October to take part in the MERCOSUR–India Trade Monitoring Mechanism meeting.

Both governments also discussed expanding the MERCOSUR–India trade agreement and exchanged information on their respective digital payment platforms — Brazil’s PIX system and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) — in order to enhance technological and financial cooperation.

Lula also expressed his intention to coordinate a joint response with fellow BRICS leaders, particularly Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Brazilian president emphasized the need to jointly analyze the consequences of the tariff increases and promote a common stance reflecting South–South cooperation.

“I have no intention of speaking directly with Trump about this,” Lula told reporters. “When my intuition tells me he is ready to talk, I will not hesitate to call him. But today, he is not, and I will not humiliate myself.”