Tariff crisis • Trump's tariff policy

A deal between the US and Brazil "a couple of days away"

A trade deal between the US and Brazil could come within a couple of days. This is what Brazilian President Lula da Silva said after meeting Donald Trump in Malaysia this weekend, writes AFP.

Lula has urged Trump to lift the 50 percent tariffs that the US has imposed on Brazil for a month. According to Bloomberg, Trump imposed the tariffs in an attempt to stop the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

- The meeting I had with Trump was surprisingly good, says Lula, adding that Trump assured him of an agreement.

Trump also seems optimistic about an agreement. Yesterday, he told reporters that an agreement could be reached "quite soon", writes Bloomberg.

Expert: Difficult issues remain unresolved between the US and China

The trade agreement that the respective presidents of China and the US, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, are expected to conclude on Thursday leaves several unresolved issues. This is what US researcher Sun Chenghao at Tsinghua University in China tells Bloomberg.

- By picking the low-hanging fruit, the further path forward becomes more difficult. The difficult conflicts with high stakes will remain in the end.

These issues include "profound" disagreements in the countries' different views on state aid, competition in the technology market and security policy, according to Sun. 

Tariff crisis  Trump's Asia trip
Trump: The US is 100 percent behind Asia

During his Asia trip, US President Donald Trump has presented a series of trade agreements with countries in the region, Bloomberg reports.

“My message to the countries of Southeast Asia is that the United States is behind you 100 percent, and we intend to be a strong partner and friend for many generations to come,” Trump said at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

The agreements include tariff exemptions and cooperation on critical minerals with Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The aim is to strengthen US access to key raw materials and markets ahead of the president’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week.