BRASILIA - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday that Brazil is not willing to be treated as lesser by others, in an indirect response to Washington amid rising tensions with the United States.

Addressing the second meeting this year of his ministerial cabinet, Lula rejected foreign impositions and stressed that no one in Brazil is above the law.

ALSO READ: Brazilian president rebukes Trump for 'meddling' in internal affairs

Stressing Brazil's sovereignty, Lula said: "Anyone who wants to enter these 8.5 million square kilometers, our airspace, our maritime space, our forests, must be accountable to our Constitution and our legislation."

The Brazilian president also made comments on US President Donald Trump's imposition of steep tariffs on Brazilian goods and threats against any attempts to regulate large US technology companies.

The Brazilian government is willing to sit down at the negotiating table with the United States "on equal terms," Lula said. "What we are not willing to accept is to be treated as if we were subordinates."

ALSO READ: Brazil not to bow down to US, says Lula

On July 30, the Trump administration announced plans to impose tariffs of up to 50 percent on Brazilian exports and sanction Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice. Moraes is currently overseeing the case against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting to seize power following his defeat in the 2022 presidential election.

Trump also called Brazil a "horrible trading partner" earlier this month, saying the trial against Bolsonaro was a "political execution."

Bolsonaro

Meanwhile, Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a round-the-clock monitoring of Bolsonaro for fear that he could attempt to flee house arrest ahead of a verdict in his coup attempt trial.

Justice Moraes granted a request from federal prosecutors after warning that Bolsonaro could seek refuge in a foreign embassy. Bolsonaro is currently confined to his residence in national capital Brasilia.

READ MORE: Lula: Brazil to respond to US tariffs with contingency plan

Moraes said the actions by Bolsonaro's son, lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is in the United States lobbying against the trial and pressing for an amnesty in Congress, "demonstrate the possibility of Jair Messias Bolsonaro fleeing to evade the application of criminal law."

Final hearings in the case are scheduled for Sept 2, with Bolsonaro and 35 co-defendants, including former officials and military officers, facing judgment for their roles in the alleged coup attempt following Bolsonaro's defeat in Brazil's 2022 presidential election.