Chinese officials said on Monday the BRICS grouping was not seeking “confrontation”, after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on countries that support the bloc’s “anti-America” policies.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a press conference in Beijing on Monday: “Regarding the imposition of tariffs, China has repeatedly stated its position that trade and tariff wars have no winners and protectionism offers no way forward.”
Trump’s remark came after member states attending the BRICS 2025 Summit in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, on Sunday condemned US-Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities as “a violation of international law.”
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With forums such as the G7 and G20 groups of major economies hamstrung by divisions and the disruptive “America First” approach of the US president, the BRICS is presenting itself as a haven for multilateral diplomacy amid violent conflicts and trade wars.
In a joint statement from the opening of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro released on Sunday afternoon, the group warned the rise in tariffs threatened global trade, continuing its veiled criticism of Trump’s tariff policies.
Hours later, Trump warned he would punish countries seeking to join with the grouping.
“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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump did not clarify or expand on the “Anti-American policies” reference in his post.
US moving to sign trade deals
Trump’s administration is seeking to finalize dozens of trade deals with a wide range of countries before his July 9 deadline for the imposition of significant “retaliatory tariffs”. Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that letters would go out to trading partners today and tariffs imposed from August 1.
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. Another 30 nations, such as Malaysia and Thailand, have expressed interest in participating in the BRICS, either as full members or partners.
Indonesia’s senior economic minister, Airlangga Hartarto, is in Brazil for the BRICS summit and is scheduled to go to the US on Monday to oversee tariff talks, an official told Reuters. India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In opening remarks, 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.
Global South leaders in Brazil
Expansion of the bloc has added diplomatic weight to the gathering, which aspires to speak for developing nations across the Global South, strengthening calls for reforming global institutions such as the United Nations Security Council and the International Monetary Fund.
“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, which highlighted the failure of US-led wars in the Middle East.
Stealing some thunder from this year’s summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping chose to send his Premier Li Qiang, while Russian President Vladimir Putin attended online due to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court related to his war in Ukraine.
Still, several heads of state gathered for discussions at Rio’s Museum of Modern Art on Sunday and Monday, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In the joint statement, the leaders called attacks against Iran’s “civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities” a “violation of international law.”
The group expressed “grave concern” for the Palestinian people over Israeli attacks on Gaza, and condemned what the joint statement called a “terrorist attack” in India-administered Kashmir.
‘Serious on climate change, AI’
The group voiced its support for Ethiopia and Iran to join the World Trade Organization, while calling to urgently restore its ability to resolve trade disputes.
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 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 US climate initiatives.
China and the UAE signalled in meetings with Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in Rio that they plan to invest in a proposed Tropical Forests Forever Facility, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions about funding conservation of endangered forests around the world.
- Reuters with additional input and editing by Jim Pollard
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