President Temer Mentions Suspension of Steel Tariff without US Official Statement

03/22/2018 - 11h36

The president of Brazil, Michel Temer, announced that the U.S. will suspend the tariffs on Brazilian steel although he has not received an official confirmation from the American government.

Temer said that he was reading a message from the White House and that Brazil's tariffs would be suspended while negotiations with the U.S. on the subject were ongoing.

"The new tariffs, says the message from the White House, will not be applied while we are negotiating. That is good news," said President Temer.

However, the Folha news report team verified that no message from the White House was sent guaranteeing that Brazil will be included in the group whose tariffs will be suspended during negotiations – although the American government says Brazil has good chances and will negotiate.

The American government had announced previously that the 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum would come into force on Friday, March 23, and the only countries exempted would be Mexico and Canada.

In an interview, Brazil's Presidential Chief of Staff, Eliseu Padilha, said that President Temer had received an official statement from the American government informing of the suspension.

	Mateus Bonomi/Agif/Folhapress
	President Temer says he received a confirmation message from the White House

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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