Trump Threatens 10% Tariff on BRICS Members and Allies, Drawing Sharp Rebuke from Brazil’s Lula and Unease Across Global South
President Donald Trump sparked the international outcry on Sunday after promising to slap punitive prices on the countries aligned on the BRICS block, a group of emerging savings which has increasingly positioned itself as a counterweight to the world economic structures led by the United States.
The warning, published in an article on the social account of Trump’s truth, said: “Any country aligning the anti-American policies of the BRICS will be invoiced an additional 10%tariff. There will be no exception to this policy. ”
The threat occurred a few hours before the conclusion of the Summit of British leaders in Rio de Janeiro and sent immediate shock waves through the diplomatic landscape, especially among the members and budding members of the block.
Register For TEKEDIA Mini-MBA Edition 18 (September 15 – December 6, 2025)) Today for early reductions. An annual for access to Blurara.com.
Tekedia Ai in Masterclass Business open registration.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-INivest in large world startups.
Register become a better CEO or director with CEO program and director of Tekedia.
During a post-Sommet press conference, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, this year’s BRICS collection host, published a puffy response, accusing Trump of behaving like a global emperor and warning that such an economic intimidation was out of the outburst with the current world order.
“I do not think it is very responsible and serious for a president … of a country the size of the United States to threaten the world on the Internet – it is not good,” said Lula. “The world has changed. We don’t want an emperor. “
Lula stressed that the BRICS countries are sovereign and have the same right as the United States to determine its own commercial policies and partnerships. “People must understand that respect is good-we like to give it, and we like to get it back in return,” he added.
BRICS as a symbol of the South South boom
Trump’s tariff warning comes in the middle of the rapid expansion of the block and increasing influence. The BRICS – originally from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – developed in 2025 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, making the group a coalition of more powerful economies outside of Western orbit.
Despite the internal differences, the block used the summit of this year to present a united front, publishing a joint declaration denouncing “unilateralism, protectionism and illegal military interventions”. Although the declaration does not explicitly name the United States, Trump interpreted it as a veiled attack on American interests.
In recent months, Brics has grown in the magnitude of efforts to reduce dependence on the US dollar. The block encouraged the trade in local currencies – a process widely considered as the first step towards “denollarization”. This initiative, which Trump previously rejected as futile, has now attracted his anger.
Earlier this year, he declared “dead” BRICS and warned of 100% prices against member countries if they persist in pursuing alternatives in dollars.
While the BRICS, as an organization, did not issue an official response to the Trump Declaration, individual members responded with caution but firmly.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has reiterated that the BRICS “are not a block for the confrontation, nor targets any country”. The spokesperson Mao Ning added: “The trade war and the pricing war have no winners, and protectionism does not lead anywhere.”
Russia’s presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov admitted that Trump’s remarks had been “noticed,” Russian state media, but have stopped offering detailed comments.
The relative silence of the wider block reflects what analysts describe as a strategic effort not to intensify unnecessarily tensions-in particular as many members of the BRICS, including India, China and Indonesia, are always engaged in bilateral trade negotiations active with the United States with the United States
Despite the institutional response in mute, Lula suggested that Trump’s rhetoric reflected anxiety on the growing world profile of the BRICS.
“Some people become nervous because the brics strengthen and give a voice to the world south,” said Lula.
In a symbolic program of unity, Lula organized a group photo on Monday which presented not only the 10 members of Full Brics, but also the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, who is the director general Tedros Adhanom, and the presidents of Chile, Uruguay, Uganda and Bolivia, all considered sympathetic for Chilis or considering the commitment of loved ones.
Trump’s words move the calculations of southern south
According to Farwa Aamer of Asia Society, Trump’s posture could complicate decisions for the countries of the South World which should line up more closely with the BRICS.
“Trump’s posture could dissuade certain countries from joining so early, especially those looking to maintain stable links with the United States,” said Aamer, adding that most would probably adopt a “waiting approach” rather than engaging in an open confrontation.
Gustavo de Carvalho of the South African Institute of International Affairs agreed, noting that Trump’s threat “becomes a real deterrence only if the United States really put aggressive penalties”.
“The members of the BRICS do not want to be considered as anti-Western. They want to be considered as leading a non-Western alternative,” he said. “These are lever.
Trump’s warning marks the latest flash point in the wider geopolitical competition between Washington and an emerging multipolar world. The BRICS are increasingly considered not only as an economic block, but as a symbol of resistance to Western domination, a role that it continues to adopt – cautiously but deliberately.
