BRICS Criticizes U.S. – Trump Warns: "10% Additional Tariffs for Those in Agreement"

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

BRICS directly criticized the U.S.'s military actions against Iran and its tariff policy and stated it would strengthen discussions on de-dollarization and its own development bank.
President Putin highlighted the importance of expanding the de-dollarization trend and enhancing trade and financial cooperation based on national currencies.
President Trump warned that countries supporting BRICS's anti-American policies would face an additional 10% tariff.

Weakened by Xi and Putin’s Absence

De-dollarization and Independent Development Bank Discussed

BRICS, an alliance of emerging non-Western countries like Russia and China, issued a direct criticism of the United States’ military actions against Iran and its tariff policies, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to warn that BRICS countries supporting anti-American policies would face an additional 10% tariff.

At the 17th BRICS Summit, held on the 6th and 7th (local time) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 11 member countries adopted a joint statement that strongly condemned military attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, defining them as attacks on "peaceful nuclear facilities." While the statement did not specify a country, international press interpreted it as targeting the Trump administration’s airstrikes against Iran. BRICS also pointed out that "indiscriminate tariff increases threaten the global trade order."

This summit marked the first BRICS meeting since six new countries—Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ethiopia, and Indonesia—joined the group. Including the five original members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), BRICS was expanded to 11 countries for this multilateral diplomatic occasion. Chinese President Xi Jinping, for the first time since taking office, did not attend a BRICS summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, delivered a video address instead. In his remarks, President Putin emphasized that “BRICS countries should strengthen trade and financial cooperation based on their own national currencies to expand the de-dollarization trend.” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of host country Brazil also stated, “BRICS must take the lead in reforming multilateralism.”

The summit discussed measures to invigorate finance by utilizing their own development bank, the New Development Bank (NDB). On Truth Social, President Trump underscored, “Countries supporting BRICS's anti-American policies will face an additional 10% tariff.”

Reported by Lee So-hyun y2eonlee@hankyung.com