China has quickly stepped up to defend Brazil after President Trump slapped the largest South American economy with 50% tariffs on many goods, which took effect Wednesday.
China is now looking to benefit by expanding access to its market for Brazilian coffee, which one of the products hit hardest by the new trade restrictions, given the US has long ranked as the world’s largest coffee importer.
To underscore it is seizing on this new opportunity, China’s embassy in Brasília shared a video on X that featured major food delivery company Meituan. “And the exchange goes both ways: Brazil is also strengthening its footprint in China with its popular coffee,” the post stated.
China has this week granted export authorization to 183 additional Brazilian coffee companies, with five-year permits – something also announced by the embassy. The drink “is becoming part of everyday life for the Chinese people,” the embassy proclaimed further.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had declared Tuesday, “I will call Xi Jinping, I will call Prime Minister Modi. I won’t call Putin, because he can’t travel now. But I will call many presidents.”
He’s now getting some of the desired initial rebuke against the US out of his powerful BRICS friends. A Wednesday statement by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing:
“…firmly supports Brazil in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity,” and “opposes unwarranted external interference in Brazil’s internal affairs.”
He emphasized that China backs Brazil in “resisting the bullying imposition of tariff measures” in a strongly-worded message while vowing to intensify cooperation among Global South countries within the BRICS framework.
Wang also in a phone call with a top Lula aid communicated to the Brazilian presidencity that “using tariffs as a weapon to suppress other countries violates the UN Charter, undermines WTO rules, and is both unpopular and unsustainable.”
China has approved 183 Brazilian coffee firms to export their products to the Chinese market, the Embassy of China in Brazil said on X. The measure took effect on July 30 and is valid for five years. @EmbaixadaChina pic.twitter.com/6vbZG58oT0
— Yicai 第一财经 (@yicaichina) August 5, 2025
Trump has in the recent past voiced criticisms of BRICS, and this week Lula has remained defiant while proposing a BRICS meeting to issue a joint response to US tariffs. Lula has stated that Trump is not “the emperor of the world” even if he’s trying to act as such.
The US has accused Lula of carrying out a “witch hunt” against ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently on trial related to corruption and “coup” activities related to rejection the election results. Brazil meanwhile may be forced to go looking for other close trade partners.
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