Trump Warns 'Anti-American' BRICS Could Face Extra 10% Tariffs
President Donald Trump on Sunday night denounced the BRICS bloc as “Anti-American” and warned that any country adopting its policies will face an additional 10% tariff, shortly after announcing that U.S. trading partners will start receiving letters outlining either unilateral tariffs on their goods or trade deals on Monday.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin ... More Zayed Al Nahyan, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China's Premier Li Qiang, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pose for a family photo during the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
AFP via Getty ImagesIn a post on his Truth Social platform, the president warned that any country “aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS” will be “charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff.”
The BRICS bloc, comprising a group of developing economies including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, held its annual summit in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
Trump’s post didn’t clarify if he intends to impose levies on all members of BRICS or if he has issues with any specific policies.
The warning came shortly after Trump announced that unilateral “TARIFF Letters, and/or Deals” with various U.S. trading partners will be delivered on Monday starting at noon EDT.
The president didn’t clarify how many countries will be receiving such letters on Monday or if any of them have been informed about this.
Brazil, a founding member of the bloc, hosted the 17th BRICS annual summit on Sunday. The gathering is the bloc’s second summit since its expansion in 2023 to include five new members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. The group issued a declaration condemning the strikes on Iran and the increase in tariffs, but stopped short of mentioning Trump’s name directly. However, two key leaders of the Bloc, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, did not attend the event. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was initially scheduled to attend, also skipped the event after U.S. and Israeli strikes on his country.
In a Truth Social post in November, Trump attacked the BRICS group and the suggestion of a potential BRICS currency, floated by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as an alternative to the dollar in global trade. Trump warned that any efforts to replace the dollar as the primary currency for international transactions would result in a 100% tariff rate. Trump said he would impose the levy unless all BRICS members commit “that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar.” He then added: “There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America.” After Trump’s threat, India dismissed the notion that it was pushing for de-dollarization of the global economy.
On Thursday, the president told reporters that his administration will start sending out letters on Friday informing trading partners about the tariff rates they will face from August 1. He said “10 or 12” letters would likely to be sent out on Friday, with more letters to follow in the “next few days.” It is unclear if these letters were sent on Friday. The president added that he expects all such unilateral tariff letters to be sent and trade deals to be locked by July 9, the deadline he had previously set for concluding trade negotiations. Trump said the unilateral levies “range in value from maybe 60 or 70%...to 10 and 20%.” The president previously noted that the U.S. was engaged in trade talks with around 15 countries and blocs like the EU but said since the U.S. has “150 plus” trading partners “at a certain point, we’re just going to send letters out…saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it.”
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