Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro from Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy.
Emerging nations, which represent about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output, are set to unite over “serious concerns” about US import tariffs, according to a draft summit statement obtained by AFP.
Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties.
His latest salvo comes in the form of letters informing trading partners of new tariff rates that will soon enter into force.
The draft summit declaration does not mention the United States or its president by name.
But it is a clear political shot directed at Washington from 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules,” the draft text says.
It warns that such measures “threaten to further reduce global trade” and are “affecting the prospects for global economic development.”
Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to Western power.
But the summit’s political punch will be depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
