Haddad sees 'open avenue' for resuming relations between Brazil and the US

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said this Thursday 16 that he believes that relations between Brazil and the United States will return to normal soon, overcoming the crisis that began with the tariff hike announced by Donald Trump in July and in effect since August.

"I don't know what path lies ahead yet, but I believe that an avenue is open to reestablish cordial relations, as we have always had, and isolating this political issue from the economic issue," Haddad told reporters in Brasília.

One of the most important steps toward this recovery could be taken as early as Thursday. Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira is in Washington, where he will meet at 2 p.m. local time (3 p.m. Brasília time) with Secretary of State Marco Rubio , the person in charge of international relations in the Trump administration.

"I spoke yesterday with Mauro [Vieira], who was already in the US, and he seemed quite confident in the atmosphere that has been reestablished between the two governments," Haddad said. "The atmosphere has changed. The most serious thing that happened was this mixing of political and economic issues."

Despite having been chosen by President Lula to be one of Brazil's representatives in the dialogue with the United States, Haddad said he has no meeting scheduled with representatives of the Trump administration.

Tensions between the two governments began to ease in late September, when Lula and Trump had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The US president cited the "excellent chemistry" between them.

Days later, in October, the two presidents spoke via videoconference . Both have publicly stated that the tone of the conversation was friendly and cordial.