(MENAFN) Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump engaged in a 40-minute telephone discussion on Tuesday that Brazilian officials characterized as productive and substantive.

Trade priorities, economic partnerships, and transnational crime dominated the bilateral exchange between the two leaders.

Lula welcomed Washington's recent rollback of a 40% additional levy previously applied to select Brazilian farm commodities, describing the tariff elimination as positive progress. The US lifted these duties in late November on key Brazilian shipments including beef, coffee, and fruit products.

During the call, Lula underscored Brazil's push for accelerated talks on remaining products still facing tariff barriers, signaling his administration's commitment to rapid advancement. He had earlier hailed the partial tariff reversal as a triumph for diplomatic engagement and rational policymaking, calling the move "very positive" and declaring the partial tariff removal a "victory for dialogue, diplomacy and common sense."

Lula also highlighted the critical importance of enhanced US-Brazilian coordination against transnational criminal networks. Trump reportedly affirmed his commitment to collaborative efforts with Brazil and pledged complete backing for combined operations against such criminal enterprises. Both presidents committed to a follow-up conversation to assess advancement on agreed initiatives.

The discussion represents a notable thaw in relations after recent friction that evolved from trade hostilities toward direct diplomatic engagement.

Trump had originally enacted the extra tariffs through an extraordinary decision justified not solely by alleged unfair commercial practices but also by the legal proceedings against former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro, a Trump political associate, received a prison sentence exceeding 27 years for orchestrating a coup attempt following his 2022 electoral defeat to Lula.

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