BRASILIA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday hailed the latest official figures showing a significant drop in deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna, and said he would use it to counter proposed U.S. tariffs targeting environmental damage.
Lula said he will submit the data to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which has threatened a new 25-percent tariff on Brazilian exports, in part due to a purported increase in deforestation.
He said he was not looking to confront U.S. President Donald Trump, but rather to maintain a dialogue.
"We do not want fights. We want respect, equality, civility, trade and development for both countries," Lula said.
Referring to Trump, he said: "My fight is to demonstrate that you were elected to be president of the United States, and I respect the vote of the American people. But you were not elected to be the emperor of the world, where you can say whatever you want and the people remain silent."
Lula's remarks followed a visit to the Amazon Regional Observatory of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, made up of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
According to official figures, between August 2025 and May 2026, 2,189 square kilometers of deforested land were detected in the Amazon, the lowest figure on record, as measured by the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System, and a 31.4-percent drop compared to the 2024-2025 period.
In the Cerrado savanna, 4,208 square kilometers of deforested land were detected in the same August-May period, an 8.2-percent decrease compared to the previous period. ■
