Trump threatens additional tariffs on nations ‘aligning' with ‘anti-American' BRICS
'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 in a Truth Social post Sunday evening.
The threat comes after members of the BRICS group issued a declaration on Sunday condemning the U.S. increase in tariffs, as well as the strikes on Iran — all without mentioning Trump by name.
The group's statement raised 'serious concerns' tariffs, saying they are 'inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules' and threaten to 'reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty.'
The group also criticized NATO's decision to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035 — a decision prompted by Trump's insistence that Europe shoulder more of the alliance's defense burden.
BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but the group last year expanded to include Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.
Brazil, which is hosting this year's two-day summit, has sought to avoid more controversial issues to avoid becoming the target of higher taxes. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs against the bloc if they take any moves to undermine the dollar.
Trump's 90-day pause on his sweeping reciprocal tariffs is set to expire on July 9. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the higher tariff rates will be imposed on Aug. 1 if countries do not strike trade deals with U.S. sooner.
The Associated Press contributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
10 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
With sanctions lifted, Syria looks to solar power as more than a patchwork fix to its energy crisis
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Abdulrazak al-Jenan swept the dust off his solar panel on his apartment roof overlooking Damascus. Syria's largest city was mostly pitch-black, the few speckles of light coming from the other households able to afford solar panels, batteries, or private generators. Al-Jenan went thousands of dollars in debt to buy his solar panel in 2019. It was an expensive coping mechanism at the time, but without it, he couldn't charge his phone and run the refrigerator. Syria has not had more than four hours of state electricity per day for years, as a result of the nearly 14-year civil war that ended with the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in December. Syria's new leaders are hoping renewable energy will now become more than a patchwork solution. Investment is beginning to return to the country with the lifting of U.S. sanctions, and major energy projects are planned, including an industrial-scale solar farm that would secure about a tenth of the country's energy needs. 'The solution to the problem isn't putting solar panels on roofs,' Syria's interim Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir told The Associated Press. 'It's securing enough power for the families through our networks in Syria. This is what we're trying to do.' Restoring the existing energy infrastructure Some of the efforts focus on simply repairing infrastructure destroyed in the war. The World Bank recently announced a $146 million grant to help Syria repair damaged transmission lines and transformer substations. Al-Bashir said Syria's infrastructure that has been repaired can provide 5,000 megawatts, about half the country's needs, but fuel and gas shortages have hampered generation. With the sanctions lifted, that supply could come in soon. More significantly, Syria recently signed a $7 billion energy deal with a consortium of Qatari, Turkish, and American companies. The program over the next three and a half years would develop four combined-cycle gas turbines with a total generating capacity estimated at approximately 4,000 megawatts and a 1,000-megawatt solar farm. This would 'broadly secure the needs' of Syrians, said Al-Bashir. While Syria is initially focusing on fixing its existing fossil fuel infrastructure to improve quality of life, help make businesses functional again, and entice investors, the U.N. Development Program said in May that a renewable energy plan will be developed in the next year for the country. The plan will look at Syria's projected energy demand and determine how much of it can come from renewable sources. 'Given the critical role of energy in Syria's recovery, we have to rapidly address energy poverty and progressively accelerate the access to renewable energy,' Sudipto Mukerjee, UNDP's resident representative in Syria, said in a statement announcing the plan. Sanctions crippled the power grid While the war caused significant damage to Syria's infrastructure, crippling Washington-led sanctions imposed during the Assad dynasty's decades of draconian rule made it impossible for Syria to secure fuel and spare parts to generate power. 'Many companies over the past period would tell us the sanctions impact matters like imports, implementing projects, transferring funds and so on,' al-Bashir said. During a visit to Turkey in May, the minister said Syria could only secure about 1700 megawatts, a little less than 20%, of its energy needs. A series of executive orders by U.S. President Donald Trump lifted many sanctions on Syria, aiming to end the country's isolation from the global banking system so that it can become viable again and rebuild itself. The United Nations estimates the civil war caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damages and economic losses across the country. Some 90% of Syrians live in poverty. Buying solar panels, private generators or other means of producing their own energy has been out of reach for most of the population. 'Any kind of economic recovery needs a functional energy sector,' said Joseph Daher, Syrian-Swiss economist and researcher, who said that stop-gap measures like solar panels and private generators were luxuries only available to a few who could afford it. 'There is also a need to diminish the cost of electricity in Syria, which is one of the most expensive in the region.' Prices for electricity in recent years surged as the country under its former rulers struggled with currency inflation and rolling back on subsidies. The new officials who inherited the situation say that lifting sanctions will help them rectify the country's financial and economic woes, and provide sufficient and affordable electricity as soon as they can. 'The executive order lifts most of the obstacles for political and economic investment with Syria," said Qutaiba Idlibi, who leads the Americas section of the Foreign Ministry. Syria has been under Washington-led sanctions for decades, but designations intensified during the war that started in 2011. Even with some waivers for humanitarian programs, it was difficult to bring in resources and materials to fix Syria's critical infrastructure — especially electricity — further compounding the woes of the vast majority of Syrians, who live in poverty. The focus is economic recovery The removal of sanctions signals to U.S. businesses that Trump is serious in his support for Syria's recovery, Idlibi said. 'Right now, we have a partnership with the United States as any normal country would do," he said. 'We can at least know what's going on in the country and watch on TV,' he said. 'We really were cut off from the entire world.' ___ Chehayeb reported from Beirut.
Bloomberg
11 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Trump Threatens 10% Tariff for Nations Aligned With BRICS
By Good morning. Donald Trump dials up trade tensions. China imposes curbs on EU medical devices in a retaliatory move. And Tesla shares may come under pressure on Elon Musk's political plans. Listen to the day's top stories. Donald Trump said any country aligning with the 'anti-American' policies of the BRICS nations will face an additional 10% levy. The group of countries that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met over the weekend and condemned US and Israeli attacks on Iran. Trump also said tariff letters will be delivered from noon Washington time today. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated some countries may be given an extension to finalize agreements.
Boston Globe
15 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Russia and Ukraine trade drone strikes as Kyiv signs deals to boost drone production
Russian air defenses shot down 120 Ukrainian drones during the nighttime attacks, and 39 more before 2 p.m. Moscow time (7 a.m. EST) Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry said. It did not clarify how many had hit targets or how many had been launched in total. Advertisement Early Sunday, Ukrainian drones injured two civilians in Russia's Belgorod region near the border, its Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. The Ukrainian attacks came just days after Russia pummelled Kyiv with waves of drones and missiles overnight into Friday, in what Ukrainian officials called the largest such strike since Moscow's all-out invasion. The seven-hour onslaught killed at least two civilians, wounded dozens more, and caused widespread damage, Ukraine said, while Moscow In total, Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine that night, according to the country's air force. The barrages have coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure. Advertisement Large-scale Russian drone strikes Sunday injured three civilians in Kyiv and at least two in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city in the northeast, officials said. A Russian attack involving Shahed drones also targeted port infrastructure in Mykolaiv in central Ukraine, according to local Governor Vitaliy Kim. He reported that warehouses and the port's power grid were damaged, but there were no casualties. Hours later, Russia launched a glide bomb and a drone at the front-line town of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine, killing four civilians and injuring a fifth, the prosecutor's office said. The drone struck a car in which a married couple were travelling, killing the 39-year-old woman and 40-year-old man on the spot, it said. Zelensky said Saturday that Ukraine had inked deals with European allies and a leading US defense company to step up drone production, ensuring Kyiv receives 'hundreds of thousands' more this year. Zelensky did not name the US business in his nightly video address to Ukrainians, but said Ukraine and Denmark have also agreed to co-produce drones and other weapons on Danish soil. His remarks came days after the US Ukraine has previously used homemade drones to hit high-value military targets deep inside Russia, demonstrating its capabilities and denting Moscow's confidence. Last month, Advertisement Outmanned and outgunned, Ukraine's army has also turned to drones to compensate for its troop shortage and shore up its defenses. While Russia has Friday, Zelensky said he had a 'very important and productive' phone call that day with President Trump, discussing possible joint drone production alongside Trump said his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday left him 'very disappointed,' adding he did not think Putin was serious about ending the fighting.
