The newly elected US President Donald Trump as head of state may strengthen cooperation with Latin American countries, especially Brazil, and increase investment in their economies to limit China's economic influence in the region. This was reported by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, citing sources in the Brazilian leadership.
According to them, Trump will not seek confrontation with Brazil and will not put diplomatic pressure on the administration of the country's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The American politician, as expected in Brazil, will also not want to apply strict economic measures against the South American republic, although he previously said that he would introduce 100% trade tariffs on goods from the BRICS countries if they create a new currency or abandon the dollar.
Brazilian leaders believe that Trump can instead expand his partnership with Brazil to limit China's influence in Latin America, the newspaper writes. Another argument in favor of normalizing relations between the two countries, officials pointed to the lack of public attacks by Trump against Lula da Silva, as Argentine leader Javier Masuel had previously done.
In November 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Brazil, the Brazilian and Chinese leaders held talks and concluded a number of agreements. As Lula da Silva noted then, the two countries have traditionally had friendly relations. China has been Brazil's largest trading partner since 2009; in 2023, bilateral trade reached a record 157 billion USD.