Brics 2025: 'We don't want an emperor,' says Brazil's Lula; slams Trump tariffs, hints at dollar alternative
Brazilian President Lula da Silva took a sharp dig at
Donald Trump
as the
Brics summit
wrapped up on Monday: "The world has changed. We don't want an emperor".
His words came just hours after the US President took to his familiar playbook of tariff threats, warning the bloc of extra duties if they took what he branded as "anti-American" positions.
The warning? A 10 per cent tariff against Brics nations -- unless, of course, they looked for their interest rather than American interest!
In his trade salvo on Sunday night, Trump said that this administration was preparing to finalise dozens of bilateral deals before a self-imposed July 9 deadline. But the developing powers weren't biting.
"This is a set of countries that wants to find another way of organising the world from the economic perspective," Lula said, according to news agency Reuters, adding, "I think that's why the Brics are making people uncomfortable."
According to a source familiar with the matter, the White House isn't planning to slap that 10 per cent tariff immediately. But if the bloc's policies appear "anti-American," the trigger could be pulled.
At the Rio summit's close, Lula doubled down on his call for a diversified global economy. He took aim at the dollar's dominance in international trade, saying: 'The world needs to find a way that our trade relations don't have to pass through the dollar.'
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'Obviously, we have to be responsible about doing that carefully. Our central banks have to discuss it with central banks from other countries,' he clarified. 'That's something that happens gradually until it's consolidated.'
In February, Trump had already warned of '100 per cent tariffs' on the Brics nations if they dared undermine the dollar's role. That same threat seems to have cooled the bloc's ambitions for a common currency, an idea floated last year but quietly parked under Brazil's current presidency.
Other Brics members offered a more diplomatic response to Trump's outburst.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said the bloc 'does not seek to compete with any other power,' and voiced optimism about reaching a trade understanding with the US.
Over in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was characteristically measured: 'Tariffs should not be used as a tool for coercion and pressuring,' she said, noting that the Brics favours 'win-win cooperation' and 'does not target any country.'
The Kremlin, for its part, reminded reporters that its work within the Brics reflects a "common world view" that "will never be directed against third countries".
Without naming the US, the Brics group in Rio, including India, raised "serious concerns" about the rise of tariffs which it said were 'inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules.'
The restrictions 'threaten to reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty," the group said in a statement even as there was confusion even in Washington about the efficacy of the Trump approach.
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