Brazilian President Lula responded to Trump’s tariff threats by saying the world doesn’t ‘need an emperor’ who lashes out over the web.
United States President Donald Trump has threatened to hike tariffs towards the BRICS economic bloc after the group supplied oblique criticism of commerce wars and the current navy assaults in Iran.
On Monday, Trump took goal on the 10-member bloc, which seeks to strengthen rising economies, framing its pursuits as adversarial to the US’s.
“Any Nation aligning themselves with the Anti-American insurance policies of BRICS, will probably be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff,” Trump wrote in a put up. “There will probably be no exceptions to this coverage. Thanks in your consideration to this matter!”
BRICS is called for its founding members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. However it has grown to incorporate different nations, corresponding to Indonesia, Egypt, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Over the weekend, the group held its seventeenth summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The assembly culminated in a declaration angled at selling peace and international cooperation.
However a number of gadgets within the joint declaration seemed to be aimed on the US and its ally Israel, despite the fact that neither was recognized by identify. Underneath a bit entitled “Strengthening Multilateralism and Reforming World Governance”, as an illustration, the BRICS leaders referred to as out the growing use of tariffs in international commerce.
This appeared directed at Trump, who has threatened US buying and selling companions with a set of tariffs to barter extra beneficial commerce offers and precise coverage concessions.
The US president has additionally referred to as tariffs “probably the most lovely phrase to me within the dictionary”, although many economists warn that the price of such import taxes is commonly offset onto customers.
Trump has additionally championed the usage of different protectionist financial insurance policies, beneath the banner of his “America First” agenda. However the BRICS leaders warned that these sorts of insurance policies might backfire.
“We voice severe considerations in regards to the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort commerce and are inconsistent with WTO [World Trade Organization] guidelines,” the BRICS leaders mentioned of their assertion.
Such measures, they continued, might “cut back international commerce, disrupt international provide chains, and introduce uncertainty into worldwide financial and commerce actions, doubtlessly exacerbating current financial disparities”.
The BRICS leaders additionally used their declaration to denounce the current navy strikes on one of many bloc’s member nations, Iran.
“We condemn the navy strikes towards the Islamic Republic of Iran since 13 June 2025, which represent a violation of worldwide regulation,” they wrote, including that “peaceable nuclear services” had been focused.
Israel carried out the primary assaults towards Iran within the 12-day battle on June 13, and on June 22, the US despatched seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to Iran to strike three nuclear services. Each Israel and the US have maintained that these actions had been needed to forestall Iran from buying a nuclear weapon, although Iran has denied searching for one.
Within the wake of Trump’s tariff threat, BRICS leaders rushed to guarantee their US counterparts that they aren’t searching for confrontation. Others, nonetheless, chafed at Trump’s remarks.
“I grew to become conscious of what President Trump tweeted, and I feel there must be higher appreciation of the emergence of varied centres of energy on this planet,” mentioned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. “And this must be seen in a constructive gentle, relatively than in a detrimental gentle.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took an excellent blunter method to Trump’s threats.
“I don’t suppose it’s very accountable or severe for the president of a rustic as massive as america to go round threatening the world by the web,” Lula mentioned in a question-and-answer session with reporters.
“It’s not proper. The world has modified. We don’t need an emperor.”