Finance Secretary contradicts Lula on taxing American big tech companies

The executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dario Durigan, stated this Tuesday (22) that the government is not currently discussing the taxation of North American technology companies as a response to the 50% taxation imposed by President Donald Trump on Brazilian exports to the United States starting August 1.

The statement directly contradicts a recent statement by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who defended the collection of taxes from so-called “big techs”.

"We have technical expertise on this issue. But it hasn't been addressed, so far, within the government. I've seen that there's discussion. But we haven't addressed this issue within the context of the United States," he told reporters.

According to Durigan, although taxing big tech companies has been considered in the past as an alternative to bolster the budget—especially given the extension of payroll tax relief for 17 sectors of the economy and municipalities—this proposal has not moved forward.

The speech by the Finance Executive Secretary directly contradicts what Lula said last Thursday (17) during an event of the National Union of Students (UNE). The PT member promised to react to the tariff hike imposed by Trump .

"He [Trump] said he didn't want companies to be taxed in Brazil. The world needs to know that this country is sovereign because the people are proud. And we're going to pay taxes from American digital companies," he said.

Durigan stressed that the government's current priority is to try to reverse the taxation while discussing contingency measures to protect Brazilian companies that may be affected.

However, he did not go into detail about what measures would be under consideration, nor did he confirm whether there were plans to help workers who might lose their jobs as a result of the tariff hike.

"We've been looking at the need to help [companies], which will be done with the least possible fiscal impact, in a timely manner, and for those who have been affected. We've been holding discussions that have yet to be approved by the president," he noted.

Dario Durigan has been monitoring meetings held by Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) with representatives of Brazilian manufacturing sectors. According to him, worrying cases have been reported, such as contract cancellations and purchase cancellations by US companies.