Donald Trump Threatens 10% Extra Tariff on Nations Aligning with BRICS, Cites ‘Anti-American Policies’

US President Donald Trump has threatened countries aligning with the Brics a 10% extra tariff on Monday. Brics, an intergovernmental organisation, comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

His statement came as the bloc of developing countries has gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a summit. Earlier, they issued a statement where leaders have took a direct shot at Trump's "indiscriminate" import tariffs and recent Israeli-US strikes on Iran. Amid the Israel-Iran conflict, the leaders have also extended symbolic support to member nation Iran, strongly condemning a series of military strikes on nuclear and other key sites conducted by Israel and the United States.

However, Trump has not clarified or expanded on the "Anti-American policies" reference in his post.

What is BRICS

Brics brings together 11 major emerging economies of the world, representing around 49.5% of the global population, around 40% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and around 26% of global trade.

The acronym BRIC was first used in 2001 by Goldman Sachs in their Global Economics Paper, "The World Needs Better Economic BRICs" on the basis of econometric analyses projecting that the four economies would individually and collectively occupy far greater economic space and would be amongst the world’s largest economies in the next 50 years or so.

Since 2009, 16 summits have taken place across the member nations and India also hosted the summit back in March 2012 and September 2021. Under India's chairship, many ‘firsts’ were achieved including BRICS Digital Health Summit, the Adoption of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan and Operationalisation of BRICS Agricultural Research Platform