Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva denounced the use of tariffs as a form of “blackmail,” while China’s Xi Jinping warned that trade wars were destabilising the global economy, during a BRICS summit held against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s escalating pressure on member states.
Neither leader mentioned Trump or the US by name in their remarks at Monday’s virtual gathering of BRICS countries. But Lula, who convened the meeting, made clear that US trade practices were the focus, citing Washington’s 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods and similar measures against India. Both he and Xi urged BRICS nations to remain united in defending a multilateral system they said was under siege.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, Xi said: “Trade wars and tariff wars waged by some countries severely disrupt the world economy and undermine international trade rules. Countries cannot thrive without an international environment of open cooperation, and no country can afford to retreat to self-imposed isolation.”
Tensions with Washington have escalated since July, when BRICS leaders criticized Trump’s policies during their annual summit in Rio de Janeiro, prompting the former US president to threaten retaliation. Soon after, he targeted Brazil with warnings of tariffs unless its Supreme Court halted coup-related proceedings against ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. By late August, he had imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods, citing the country’s continued imports of Russian oil.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped the virtual meeting, sending his foreign minister in his place. Other participants included Russia’s Vladimir Putin, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, the UAE crown prince, and Ethiopia’s deputy foreign minister, according to Brazil’s government.
Both Xi and Lula concluded their interventions by stressing the need for BRICS to defend multilateralism in trade and global governance, while also calling for stronger representation for developing nations in institutions such as the United Nations — a long-standing priority for the alliance.
