As Trump targets Brics, Indonesia's autonomy hangs in the balance
Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, marked a pivotal moment that reflects shifting global power dynamics. By consolidating into a stronger multipolar bloc, emerging economies are effectively challenging the long-standing dominance of a Western-led order.
Advertisement
Brics released a joint statement, criticising unilateral tariffs and non-tariff measures that disrupt global trade. The statement called for reforms of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Brics leaders also condemned recent attacks on Iran, albeit without naming the US and Israel.
Nonetheless, the US has responded with confrontational threats, including the potential use of tariffs. On his Truth Social account, US President Donald Trump declared that, 'Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL
10% Tariff ', emphasising that there would be no exceptions.
Trump not only threatened a 10 per cent tariff on Brics members but also sent a letter to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto threatening to impose a
32 per cent tariff on all Indonesian exports starting on August 1. Trump justified the threat based on the US' trade imbalance with Indonesia, the latest
full member of Brics
In the letter, Trump stated the tariffs could be reconsidered if Indonesia agreed to establish manufacturing operations in the US.
Advertisement
This not only intensifies tensions between Washington and Brics, but also puts countries like Indonesia under significant pressure. Jakarta now faces the challenge of balancing geopolitical independence with the short-term interests of trade and investment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Degraded Nobel Peace Prize standards could mean Trump deserves one
Given the long-degraded state of the Nobel Peace Prize, I say Donald Trump probably does deserve one, or three. It may also be jointly awarded to the US president's Israeli partner-in-crime, the suspected war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu with an outstanding arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity issued by the International Criminal Court. Eventually, Netanyahu will have to end his war on the Palestinian civilian population, which ought to make him a peacemaker of sorts. Advertisement If Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho could win the Nobel, why not Trump and Netanyahu? Incidentally, Trump has sanctioned the court's chief prosecutor for daring to try to arrest his mate, as well as the chief UN monitor on Palestinian rights for issuing a report on the complicity of multinational corporations in Israel's 'genocide' in the Palestinian Terroritories. But never mind; Pakistan, Ukraine, and now Israel and a group of African leaders have taken turns to nominate Trump for the big prize, which the US president has openly admitted he covets. Imagine that: the US has been arming Ukraine and Israel to the teeth, and they in turn nominate its president for the peace prize. That's the kind of world we live in now. Ok, Ukraine has withdrawn the peace nomination after Washington temporarily halted weapon supplies. You can't say Kyiv wasn't being consistent! But now that the weapon pipelines have been restored, perhaps Kyiv should resume the nomination. Advertisement Remember how Barack Obama won the 2009 peace prize just for being elected president? That was what everyone had suspected at the time, and it was subsequently confirmed in the autobiography of a former Nobel Institute director, in his own words, to 'strengthen the president'. Compared with the just-elected Obama, Trump actually did some things, though critics can't agree on what they are or their implications.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Indonesia, EU unveil ‘political agreement' on trade deal
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday announced a 'political agreement' to conclude a long-awaited free trade deal, as US leader Donald Trump upends global commerce. 'We're living in turbulent times and when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together. So today we're taking a big step forward in this partnership,' von der Leyen told journalists in Brussels. 'I am very pleased to report that we have just reached a political agreement on an ambitious free trade agreement.' The 27-nation European bloc and Southeast Asia 's largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment. A European Commission statement called Sunday's agreement a 'decisive milestone' towards striking the deal, which is to be concluded in September by EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Indonesia's chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto. 'There's a lot of untapped potential in our trade relationship. And therefore this agreement comes at the right time, because the new agreement will open new markets,' von der Leyen said. 'It will create more opportunities in key industries, in business activity and agriculture, in automotive and in services.'
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
EU delays retaliatory tariffs on US goods in hopes of August 1 deal
The EU will suspend retaliatory tariffs on US goods scheduled to take effect on Monday in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month. 'This is now the time for negotiations,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels on Sunday, after President Donald Trump sent a letter announcing new tariffs of 30 per cent on goods from the EU and Mexico starting on August 1. The EU – America's biggest trading partner and the world's largest trading bloc – had been scheduled to impose 'countermeasures' starting on Monday at midnight Brussels time. The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 27 member countries. Von der Leyen said those countermeasures would be delayed until August 1, and that Trump's letter shows 'that we have until the first of August' to negotiate. European leaders have urged Trump and von der Leyen to give negotiations more time. 'We have always been clear that we prefer a negotiated solution,' she said. If they can't reach a deal, she said 'we will continue to prepare countermeasures so we are fully prepared'. US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the 50th World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos in 2020. Photo: Reuters Standing alongside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, von der Leyen said the trade tensions with the US show the importance of 'diversifying our trade relationships'.
