By
Tridivesh Singh Maini
Africa-Press – Eritrea. On July 6, 2025, US President Donald Trump, in a social media post, said: “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.”
The BRICS Leaders’ Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro from July 6-7, 2025. Trump reiterated his threat on July 8, 2025. He said that the BRICS bloc was set up to “degenerate” the US dollar, and any country that was part of the bloc would face the consequences. Trump’s statements came amidst US trade talks with several countries—as the 90-day pause pertaining to tariffs announced earlier by the US president ended. The Trump administration sent out letters to over 20 countries mentioning new tariff rates, if agreements were not reached by August 1, 2025.
Reaction of Brazil
Brazil, which holds the BRICS Presidency for 2025, reacted strongly to Trump’s threats. The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated that the world does not want another ‘emperor.’ Trump also issued 50% tariffs against Brazil. The reason cited for Trump’s warning to Brazil was the “witch-hunt” against former Brazilian President Bolsonaro, as well as “attacks” on US tech companies. In his letter to the Brazilian president, Trump said that the tariffs were imperative for the US to have a level playing field with Brazil. The letter also said:
“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a highly respected leader throughout the world during his term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace.
It is the BRICS Summit held in Brazil, where a joint statement criticized the attacks on Iran (by Israel and the US), warned against the detrimental impact of tariffs, and also called for the reform of multilateral institutions, which is supposed to have peeved the US President.
BRICS and the current world order
A few points need to be borne in mind. First, there is consensus amongst BRICS members over the need for a reform of global multilateral institutions, the need for a reduction of dependency upon the US dollar, and several other issues related to the Global South. At the same time, several members, including India, which will hold the presidency of BRICS in 2026, have on more than one occasion distanced themselves from the idea of a BRICS common currency.
Second, given the nature of the relations between China and India, the latter itself realizes the limits of BRICS. India, like many other countries, would be comfortable cooperating on certain issues pertaining to the Global South but cannot overlook the current strains in India-China ties.
Third, many new members of BRICS, while seeking to enhance cooperation, have distanced themselves from a zero-sum perspective. This includes countries like the UAE and Indonesia (the UAE became a member of BRICS in January 2024, while Indonesia entered BRICS as a member in January 2025).
Finally, many countries had signed agreements for trade in local currencies, or de-dollarisation, outside the rubric of BRICS, so de-dollarization cannot be linked to BRICS alone. The key push factor for de-dollarization was the imposition of stringent sanctions on Russia in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war—BRICS has only sought to strengthen the same.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Trump’s statements regarding BRICS need to be viewed with a pinch of salt and maybe as a way of drawing a better deal in trade negotiations. At the same time, it is important to understand that even though there are areas where members and partner countries of BRICS are on the same page, it is tough to ignore differences within the grouping over crucial issues (expansion of the organization is likely to lead to further differences within the organization on important issues). It is also important to have a more nuanced understanding of de-dollarization and not view it solely from the prism of BRICS.
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