BRICS nations discuss shared response to Trump trade policies

RIO DE JANEIRO: Foreign ministers from the BRICS group of developing nations met on Monday to discuss a shared defence of the global trade system, coordinating their response to the barrage of new tariffs from US President Donald Trump.

The meeting in Rio de Janeiro is expected to produce a joint statement criticizing “unilateral measures” on trade from the group formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and recently expanded to include six more nations.

“The ministers are negotiating a declaration to reaffirm the centrality of… multilateral trade negotiations as the main axis of action in trade,” Brazilian Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio said. “They will reaffirm their criticism of unilateral measures of any origin, which has been a longstanding position of BRICS countries.”

The expanded BRICS group, which added Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran last year, faces daunting challenges from US trade actions.

China, which was hit with 145% tariffs on its exports to the United States, has pushed for a harsher tone in the communique but, according to a source familiar with negotiations, the final text will be critical but not confrontational.