Brazil pins hopes on Scott Bessent’s ties to Donald Trump to ease trade dispute
08/11/2025
After failed attempts to negotiate with various members of the U.S. government, President Luiz Lula’s administration has singled out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as one of the few figures capable of persuading U.S. President Donald Trump to back down on the new tariff hike. Officials believe Mr. Bessent is among the few persons with whom the Lula government has managed to build a working dialogue and who also has Mr. Trump’s ear. The hope is that he can carry President Lula’s proposals directly to the White House.
In the coming days, Mr. Bessent is expected to speak by phone with Finance Minister Fernando Haddad. The renewed contact is one of the Brazilian government’s last hopes for resolving the trade dispute.
In May, Mr. Haddad met Mr. Bessent in Los Angeles, but that meeting took place before Trump announced a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods. This week’s conversation will take place with the tax already in effect. According to Lula administration officials, Mr. Haddad will focus on the trade issue and attempt to keep politics out of the discussion.
Even so, while Mr. Bessent is seen as the best hope for getting Brazil’s counterproposals onto the president’s desk, President Lula’s aides have been warned that the Treasury secretary does not “buy into every battle” that comes his way, raising doubts about whether he will be willing to engage on the 50% tariff.
“The adult in the room who has the best chance of resolving this is Bessent. He’s the guy for this kind of thing—but he picks his battles,” said one source familiar with the talks. Behind the scenes, the Workers’ Party government acknowledges the negotiations are tough and that Brazilian officials need to “keep a cool head” in the debate. “The negotiation won’t happen on the schedule people expect,” the source added.
The focus on Mr. Bessent emerged after Lula’s government sought out several other Trump administration figures for discussions on Brazilian exports. Most of those envoys, however, proved unable to advance Brazil’s case — and, informally, some admitted they did not have the authority to negotiate such an impasse.
In recent weeks, Brazilian officials have spoken, for instance, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Valor has learned that Mr. Rubio agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of dialogue, noting the 200 years of diplomatic relations between Brazil and the United States. Nevertheless, none of these conversations resulted in a concrete avenue for talks, frustrating the Brazilian side.
Veteran diplomats at Brazil’s Foreign Ministry say the complexity of the situation has much to do with Trump’s management style. A case in point is the recent dismissal of U.S. Labor Department chief Erika McEntarfer, who was fired after the release of July’s payroll report showed far fewer jobs created than expected.
According to sources, such episodes help explain the “defensive” posture U.S. officials have adopted in talks with Brazil so far.
“As long as Trump doesn’t move the pieces on the chessboard, his officials will keep playing defense and holding the line. If any of them step out of line, their career is over. It’s no coincidence he fired the Labor Department official,” one source said.
*By Renan Truffi and Sofia Aguiar — Brasília
Source: Valor International
https://valorinternational.globo.com/