US President Donald Trump said on July 6 that his administration would impose an additional 10% tariff on countries that comply with what he described as the "anti-American policies" of the BRICS group.
"There will be no exceptions to this policy," Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social, the Telegraph reports.
The announcement coincided with the BRICS summit in Brazil, where member states, including Russia, China and India, adopted a statement condemning attacks on Iran and Israel's operations in Gaza.
The document did not explicitly mention the US, but criticized actions perceived as destabilizing. On June 21, the US carried out attacks on three key Iranian nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Trump's latest trade threat escalates tensions with the BRICS group, which has increasingly sought to reduce its dependence on the US dollar and move towards a multipolar world order.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, described the summit as the beginning of a new "Global South" era, emphasizing the group's goal of reshaping the global order.
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin said in October 2024 that there are no immediate plans to create a BRICS currency, he emphasized the group's goal of financial sovereignty.
In January, Trump warned of 100% tariffs on BRICS members if they try to adopt a new or existing currency to replace the US dollar in international trade.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the BRICS summit in person, while Putin participated via video due to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant in effect.
Brazil, the host country of the summit, is a member of the ICC and obligated to arrest Putin if he enters the country.
The statement also condemned incidents on Russian railway infrastructure, and called for a negotiated solution to the war against Ukraine.
However, it avoided urging Russia to stop its full-scale invasion.
BRICS expanded in 2024, accepting Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as new members. In October 2024, Putin hosted a BRICS forum in Kazan, attended by 36 world leaders. /Telegraph/
