BRASILIA - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged on Thursday to take "all appropriate measures" to protect Brazilian companies and workers from the United States' new tariff policy.

"We advocate multilateralism and free trade, and will respond to any attempt to impose a protectionism that no longer has a place in today's world," Lula da Silva said at an event at the Planalto Palace.

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"Given the United States' decision to impose an additional tariff on Brazilian products, we will take all appropriate measures to defend our Brazilian companies and workers, taking as a reference the Economic Reciprocity Act passed yesterday by Congress and the guidelines of the World Trade Organization," he said.

Brazil's Congress approved the reciprocity bill on Wednesday, shortly after US President Donald Trump announced 10 percent tariffs on imports from the Latin American country.