U.S. President Threatens Extra 10% Tariffs on BRICS

AFP

BRICS leaders at BRICS Summit.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that countries which side with the policies of the Brics alliance that go against US interests will be hit with an extra 10% tariff.

"Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy," President Trump wrote on social media.

President Trump's administration is seeking to finalize dozens of trade deals with a wide range of countries before his 9 July 2025 deadline for the imposition of significant "retaliatory tariffs".

The 17th BRICS Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro on 6 and 7 July 2025, marked a significant moment for the global south as the most powerful political alliance of emerging economies convened to revitalise and reshape a collective response to global challenges. 

The original BRICS group gathered leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China at its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates as members. Saudi Arabia has held off formally joining, according to sources, while another 30 nations have expressed interest in participating in the BRICS, either as full members or partners.

In opening remarks to the summit earlier, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva drew a parallel with the Cold War's Non-Aligned Movement, a group of developing nations that resisted joining either side of a polarized global order.

"BRICS is the heir to the Non-Aligned Movement," Lula told leaders. "With multilateralism under attack, our autonomy is in check once again."

BRICS nations now represent more than half the world's population and 40% of its economic output, Lula noted in remarks on Saturday to business leaders, warning of rising protectionism.

"If international governance does not reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it is up to BRICS to help bring it up to date," Lula said in his remarks.

Stealing some thunder from this year's summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping chose to send his premier in his place. Russian President Vladimir Putin is attending online due to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court related to his war in Ukraine.

The leaders' joint statement backed plans to pilot a BRICS Multilateral Guarantees initiative within the group's New Development Bank to lower financing costs and boost investment in member states, as first reported by Reuters last week.

In a separate statement following a discussion of artificial intelligence, the leaders called for protections against unauthorized use of AI to avoid excessive data collection and allow mechanisms for fair payment.
Brazil, which also hosts the United Nations climate summit in November, has seized on both gatherings to highlight how seriously developing nations are tackling climate change, while Trump has slammed the brakes on U.S. climate initiatives.




PUKMEDIA