Donald Trump: Any nation aligning themselves with the Anti-American insurance policies of BRICS can be charged an ADDITIONAL 10 per cent tariff.
Pronouncement comes as BRICS leaders convene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for his or her annual summit this week.
BRICS has been escalating efforts to problem U.S. financial dominance—significantly its central function within the international monetary system.
U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled a sweeping new commerce directive that might disrupt the rising momentum of BRICS nations to loosen their dependence on the U.S. greenback. In a submit on his Reality Social platform Sunday night time, Trump threatened to impose a further 10 per cent tariff on any nation that aligns itself with what he termed the “Anti-American insurance policies of BRICS.”
“Any nation aligning themselves with the Anti-American insurance policies of BRICS can be charged an ADDITIONAL 10 per cent tariff. There can be no exceptions to this coverage,” Trump declared.
The pronouncement comes as BRICS leaders convene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for his or her annual summit this week. The goals for the 6 to 7 July 2025 XVII BRICS Summit embrace: highlighting the continuing humanitarian impression of Israeli navy motion in Gaza and in conflicts in Sudan, Ukraine and Iran; and advocating for the sustainable decision of conflicts by diplomacy, inclusive dialogue and a dedication to the United Nations Constitution.
The Summit may even discover methods of increasing tangible commerce, tourism, funding and monetary cooperation inside BRICS and with BRICS Companion Nations.
Although Trump didn’t define what particular BRICS actions would set off the punitive tariff, commerce analysts say the transfer is a transparent preemptive strike towards the bloc’s escalating efforts to problem U.S. financial dominance—significantly its central function within the international monetary system.
Stephen Olson, a former U.S. commerce negotiator and now senior fellow on the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, mentioned Trump’s directive is probably going a response to the joint BRICS communiqué launched earlier Sunday, which criticized the rising pattern of unilateral commerce insurance policies.
“By ‘anti-American’ insurance policies, the president could also be referring to the need expressed by BRICS members to maneuver past a U.S.-led world order in finance and international governance,” Olson instructed CNBC, noting that how such alignment could be measured stays unclear. “It’s anybody’s guess.”
Of their joint assertion, BRICS leaders voiced “critical issues in regards to the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort commerce and are inconsistent with WTO guidelines,” a passage broadly interpreted as a veiled critique of Trump’s personal tariff-heavy commerce agenda. They warned of a “proliferation of trade-restrictive actions” that threat “disrupting the worldwide financial system and worsening present financial disparities.”
Though the U.S. was not named, the timing of the assertion and Trump’s subsequent response leaves little room for ambiguity. Analysts say the coverage announcement indicators a big escalation in Trump’s financial nationalism—one that might derail BRICS efforts to internationalize different currencies, bolster South-South commerce, and construct monetary establishments exterior Western affect.
Learn additionally: Dedollarization: BRICS tackle Trump and mighty greenback
A Blow to BRICS Ambitions?
The BRICS grouping—which now contains Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran—has been vocal about its mission to extend the affect of the World South and scale back reliance on the greenback in worldwide commerce. The Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace notes {that a} key BRICS aim is to “problem Western-dominated establishments of worldwide financial governance” and create new monetary structure, together with a substitute for the U.S.-dominated SWIFT system.
Whereas the bloc remains to be largely symbolic in its operational cohesion, its increasing membership and strategic financial statements have drawn the eye—and more and more, the ire—of Western policymakers.
In an indication of rising political solidarity, the BRICS group additionally condemned current navy strikes on fellow member Iran in the course of the summit, although they stopped wanting instantly naming both Israel or the USA.
The host nation Brazil has not but commented on Trump’s assertion. Nonetheless, the optics of the state of affairs have added to hypothesis a couple of probably disruptive new U.S. international commerce agenda underneath Trump’s management.
Trump’s Tariff Coverage Gathers Tempo
Trump’s announcement additionally follows per week of mounting anticipation over U.S. tariff deadlines. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent instructed CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that letters detailing country-specific tariff charges would start going out Monday. Bessent emphasised that this was not a contemporary deadline, however a agency implementation timeline.
“We’re saying that is when it’s occurring. If you wish to velocity issues up, have at it. If you wish to return to the previous fee, that’s your alternative,” Bessent mentioned, referring to the August 1 enforcement date for nations that fail to strike offers with the U.S.
This marks the end result of an earlier April coverage by which Trump had introduced sweeping tariffs on main buying and selling companions however paused implementation for 90 days. That pause is ready to run out this Wednesday, heightening tensions with each allies and rivals.
In what could possibly be a calculated transfer to shift international commerce alignments, Trump’s newest tariff edict places nations at a crossroads: align extra carefully with the U.S. and keep away from penalties, or deepen cooperation with BRICS on the threat of financial reprisal.
Both path, analysts say, might set off a seismic reshuffling of the present international financial order—one which BRICS nations have been already searching for to redefine, however now underneath a lot larger strain.
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