Brazil's Lula touts possible deals with Vietnam as he wraps state visit

By Patricia Vilas Boas

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that Vietnam may buy as many as 50 planes from Embraer, the Brazilian planemaker, and that another Brazilian company may invest $100 million in a meat-processing plant in the Asian country, as he prepared to conclude his state visit to Hanoi, where he met President Luong Cuong.

Last week, sources told Reuters that Brazilian meatpacker JBS was considering building such a plant in Vietnam, which would be its first in Asia. The company did not immediately comment on Lula's remarks and it is unclear if the $100-million investment refers to its plans.

A Brazilian official also told Reuters last week that Embraer was in talks about the possible sale of 10 E190 narrow-body jets to Vietnam Airlines. On Friday, the Brazilian president said he was aware that flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines was "positively assessing Embraer's offer" for regional jets.

Embraer did not immediately comment on either of Lula's remarks.

Lula also said he was willing to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump about the tariffs he vowed to impose on Brazil starting on Wednesday. Trump had already announced levies on Brazilian steel in early March.

Lula took a softer approach than he did earlier this week in Japan, when he vowed to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the levy on Brazilian steel and said he was considering imposing higher tariffs on American products imported into Brazil.

"Before engaging in a fight about reciprocity or a fight at the WTO, we want to use all the words in our dictionary to do free trade with the U.S.," he told reporters in Hanoi.

(Reporting by Patricia Vilas Boas; writing by Manuela Andreoni; Editing by Rod Nickel)