New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the “anti-American” policies of the BRICS grouping.

His comments came after the BRICS bloc condemned the increase of tariffs without naming Trump. Leaders of the BRICS are meeting in Brazil for the 17th BRICS Summit on July 6-7.

“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10 per cent Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday night.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

Trump also said in a separate post that the US will send out “letters” on tariffs and deals to various countries beginning Monday.

“I am pleased to announce that the UNITED STATES TARIFF Letters, and/or Deals, with various Countries from around the World, will be delivered starting 12:00 PM (Eastern), Monday, July 7th. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J TRUMP, President of The United States of America,” he said.

The BRICS bloc of developing nations on Sunday (July 6, 2025) condemned the increase of tariffs and attacks on Iran, but refrained from naming U.S. President Donald Trump.

The group’s declaration, which also took aim at Israel’s military actions in West Asia, also spared its member Russia from criticism and mentioned war-torn Ukraine just once.

The two-day summit was marked by the absences of two of its most powerful members. China’s President Xi Jinping did not attend a BRICS summit for the first time since he became his country’s leader in 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke via video conference, continues to mostly avoid travelling abroad due to an international arrest warrant issued after Russia invaded Ukraine.

In an indirect swipe at the U.S., the group’s declaration raised “serious concerns” about the rise of tariffs which it said were “inconsistent with WTO [World Trade Organisation] rules.” The BRICS added that those restrictions “threaten to reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty.”

Mr. Trump, in a post on his social media platform late on Sunday, said any country that aligns itself with what he termed “the Anti-American policies of BRICS” would be levied an added 10% tariff.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who hosted the summit, criticised NATO’s decision to hike military spending by 5% of GDP annually by 2035. That sentiment was later echoed in the group’s declaration.

“It is always easier to invest in war than in peace,” Mr. Lula said at the opening of the summit, which is scheduled to continue on Monday.

Iran in attendance

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was expected to attend the summit before the attacks on his country in June, sent his Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to the meeting in Rio.

The group’s declaration criticised the attacks on Iran without mentioning the U.S. or Israel, the two nations that conducted them.

In his speech, Mr. Araghchi told leaders he had pushed for every member of the United Nations to condemn Israel strongly. He added Israel and the U.S. should be accountable for rights violations. The Iranian Foreign Minister said the aftermath of the war “will not be limited” to one country.

“The entire region and beyond will be damaged,” Mr. Araghchi said.

BRICS leaders expressed “grave concern” for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, called for the release of all hostages, a return to the negotiating table and reaffirmed their commitment to the two-state solution.

Later, Iran’s Mr. Araghchi said in a separate statement on messaging app Telegram that his government had expressed its reservation regarding a two-state solution in a note, saying it will not work “just as it has not worked in the past.”

Also on Telegram, Russia’s Foreign Ministry in another statement named the U.S. and Israel, and condemned the “unprovoked military strikes” against Iran.

Russia spared

The group’s 31-page declaration mentions Ukraine just once, while condemning “in the strongest terms” recent Ukrainian attacks on Russia.

“We recall our national positions concerning the conflict in Ukraine as expressed in the appropriate fora, including the UN Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly,” the group said.

Joao Alfredo Nyegray, an international business and geopolitics professor at the Pontifical Catholic University in Parana, said the summit could have played a role in showing an alternative to an unstable world, but won’t do so.

“The withdrawal of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the uncertainty about the level of representation for countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are confirming the difficulty for the BRICS to establish themselves as a cohesive pole of global leadership,” Mr. Nyegray said. “This moment demands high level articulation, but we are actually seeing dispersion.”

Avoid Trump’s tariffs

While Mr. Lula advocated on Sunday for the reform of Western-led global institutions, Brazil aimed to avoid becoming the target of higher tariffs.

Mr. Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs against the bloc if they take any moves to undermine the dollar. Last year, at the summit hosted by Russia in Kazan, the Kremlin sought to develop alternatives to U.S.-dominated payment systems which would allow it to dodge Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Brazil decided to focus on less controversial issues in the summit, such as promoting trade relations between members and global health, after Mr. Trump returned to the White House, said Ana Garcia, a professor at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University.

“Brazil wants the least amount of damage possible and to avoid drawing the attention of the Trump administration to prevent any type of risk to the Brazilian economy,” Ms. Garcia said.

‘Best opportunity for emerging countries’

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.

As well as new members, the bloc has 10 strategic partner countries, a category created at last year’s summit that includes Belarus, Cuba, and Vietnam.

That rapid expansion led Brazil to put housekeeping issues — officially termed institutional development — on the agenda to better integrate new members and boost internal cohesion.

Despite notable absences, the summit is important for attendees, especially in the context of instability provoked by Mr. Trump’s tariff wars, said Bruce Scheidl, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo’s BRICS study group.

“The summit offers the best opportunity for emerging countries to respond, in the sense of seeking alternatives and diversifying their economic partnerships,” Mr. Scheidl said.

Earlier on Sunday, a pro-Israel non-profit placed dozens of rainbow flags on Ipanema beach to protest Iran’s policies regarding LGBT+ people. On Saturday, human rights group Amnesty International protested Brazil’s plans for offshore oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River.

For Mr. Lula, the summit is a welcome pause from a difficult domestic scenario, marked by a drop in popularity and conflict with Congress.

The meeting was also an opportunity to advance climate negotiations and commitments on protecting the environment before November’s COP 30 climate talks in the Amazonian city of Belem.

BRICS intergovernmental organization Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa Contents Ask the Chatbot a Question 2023 BRICS summit Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping (second from left) delivering an address during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on August 24, 2023. (more)

News • BRICS group condemns increase of tariffs in summit overshadowed by Middle East tensions • July 7, 2025, 12:29 AM ET (AP) Show less

BRICS, informal grouping of countries that has developed into an intergovernmental organization. The term BRICS originally denoted a collection of countries experiencing rapid economic growth that would, if growth were maintained at similar rates, emerge as the dominant economic players of the 21st century. The acronym—derived from the names of the early members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has since been adopted as the name of a formal intergovernmental organization that aims to create greater economic and geopolitical integration and coordination among member states. In full: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (Show more) Also called: BRICS+ (Show more) Areas Of Involvement: economic growth (Show more) See all related content The BRICS organization is commonly understood as an attempt to form a geopolitical bloc capable of counterbalancing the influence of Western-dominated global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. However, the genuine cohesion and alignment of the BRICS countries, and the actual value of the alliance, is a matter of debate. Some commentators point to the vast differences in the political systems, economies, and geopolitical positions of the member states as evidence of the organization’s fragility.

Origins and evolution The acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) was first used by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill to describe the four economies that could, if growth were maintained, dominate the global economy by 2050. Representatives of the BRIC countries first began meeting informally during the 2006 meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. At their first summit in 2009, the BRIC states affirmed their commitment to a multipolar world order and global noninterventionism and called for a new global reserve currency as an alternative to the U.S. dollar. In 2011 South Africa joined the organization, and the group’s acronym changed to BRICS. This reflected its focus away from a specific economic designation toward a more inclusive grouping of emerging regional leaders.

Expansion and economic initiatives There is no formal application process to join BRICS, but new members must be unanimously approved by existing ones. At the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa, BRICS announced the admission of Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Argentina as new member states. Soon after he became president of Argentina, Javier Milei announced that his country would not join the organization, while the other countries became members in 2024. Saudi Arabia has not formally joined BRICS. Indonesia joined the bloc as a full member on January 6, 2025. (The informal name BRICS+ is sometimes used to acknowledge the organization’s expansion.) BRICS member states Brazil

China

Egypt

Ethiopia

India

Iran

Russia

Indonesia

South Africa

United Arab Emirates At the 2012 BRICS summit, after criticizing aspects of the IMF and the World Bank, members proposed the creation of a new international development bank to provide funding and loans for development projects in emerging economies. This New Development Bank (NDB) began operating in July 2014, with founding BRICS members having pooled $100 billion as the bank’s authorized capital. Each founding BRICS member holds an equal stake in the NDB and contributes an equal share to the bank’s assets. Other countries have become members of the NDB since its creation. Get 30% Off! Take advantage of special summer savings and discover the facts today! Subscribe Alongside the NDB, BRICS launched the Contingency Reserve Agreement (CRA), meant to provide countries experiencing economic strain with liquid currency. Unlike the NDB, the CRA is not bound by an equal contribution stipulation, and China provided 41 percent of the agreement’s initial assets. BRICS members have discussed the creation of a common currency for international trade between member countries, but no concrete steps have been taken to accomplish this goal.

Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot

A founding member of the Workers’ Party (Portuguese: Partido dos Trabalhadores), Lula first ran for political office as his party’s candidate for governor of the state of São Paulo in 1982, finishing fourth. He later led national efforts in favour of direct elections for president, organizing mass demonstrations in state capitals in 1983 and 1984. Buoyed by popularity and charisma , Lula was elected to the national Chamber of Deputies in 1986 as a federal deputy from São Paulo. Lula was the Workers’ Party’s presidential candidate in 1989, but he lost to Fernando Collor de Mello . Lula continued as his party’s presidential candidate in the elections of 1994 and 1998, both times finishing second to Fernando Henrique Cardoso . In the 2002 presidential election he adopted a more pragmatic platform; although he remained committed to encouraging grassroots participation in the political process, he also courted business leaders and promised to work with the International Monetary Fund to meet fiscal targets. Lula decisively defeated José Serra , the government-backed candidate, by winning 61.5 percent of the vote.

Born in Pernambuco state to sharecropping parents, Luiz Inácio da Silva (“Lula” was a nickname that he later added to his legal name) worked as a shoe-shine boy, street vendor, and factory worker to help supplement the family income. During the recession that followed the military coup of 1964 in Brazil, he found employment with the Villares Metalworks in São Bernardo do Campo , an industrial suburb of São Paulo . At Villares he joined the Metalworkers’ Union, and in 1972 he left the factory to work for the union full-time, heading its legal section until 1975 when he was elected union president. That post brought him national attention as he launched a movement for wage increases in opposition to the military regime’s economic policy . The campaign was highlighted by a series of strikes from 1978 to 1980 and culminated in Lula’s arrest and indictment for violations of the National Security Law. Although he was convicted and sentenced to a prison term of three and a half years, the Military Supreme Court released him the following year.

Both the Brazilian economy and Lula’s popularity continued to grow during his second term, and new oil discoveries in the Santos basin held great promise for the country’s future, which looked even brighter when Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games . Constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term, Lula handpicked his chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff , as his successor. Promising to extend Lula’s policies, Rousseff, who had been the point person for the administration’s landmark Growth Acceleration Program, advanced from the first round of elections to a runoff against Serra, whom she defeated convincingly to be elected Brazil’s first woman president.

After taking office in January 2003, Lula sought to improve the economy, enact social reforms, and end government corruption. In 2006, as the end of his first term approached, the economy was growing, and Brazil’s poverty rate had fallen significantly. However, many Brazilians felt that Lula had not done enough to improve the quality of public education or to reduce crime. Moreover, Lula’s vow to fight government corruption had come into question in 2005, when members of his party were accused of bribery and illegal campaign financing. The president was not implicated, but the scandal hurt his popularity. In the first round of the 2006 presidential election, Lula failed to capture enough votes to win outright. Nevertheless, in the second round he easily defeated his opponent, Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party .

Involvement in the Petrobras scandal

Rousseff was reelected in 2014, but early in her second term a scandal exploded that involved millions of dollars in alleged kickbacks by prominent Brazilian corporations to officials of Petrobras, the country’s huge majority-state-owned oil company, and of the Workers’ Party. Dozens of high-level businesspeople and politicians were indicted as part of the widespread investigation into the scandal. In August 2015 the list of those arrested expanded to include José Dirceu, who had served as chief of staff for Lula from 2003 to 2005.

balloon caricatures of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff Demonstrators in São Paulo, Brazil, on March 13, 2016, guiding inflatable dolls depicting former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a prison inmate and embattled Pres. Dilma Rousseff, part of a demonstration against Brazil’s economic crisis and massive corruption scandal. (more)

On March 4, 2016, Lula’s home was raided by the police, who then brought in the former president himself for some three hours of questioning before releasing him. Roughly a week later he was formally charged with money laundering for allegedly hiding his ownership of a seaside luxury apartment that was said to have come into his possession as a result of his ties to the OAS construction firm. Lula, who denied owning the apartment, was then named chief of staff by Rousseff, ostensibly to use his considerable clout and political acumen to help her administration survive the scandal and a growing economic crisis. Lula’s appointment was blocked, however, by a federal judge who also released a wiretapped phone conversation between Rousseff and Lula, which, it was argued, indicated that Rousseff had made the appointment to protect Lula from prosecution. As a cabinet member, the chief of staff was legally exempt from federal prosecution and could be tried only in the Supreme Court.

Get 30% Off! Take advantage of special summer savings and discover the facts today! Subscribe

Against this backdrop, calls for Rousseff’s impeachment swelled, leading to her suspension from office in May and an impeachment trial in August in which she was convicted of having used state bank funds to cover up a budget deficit in the run-up to her reelection in 2014. She was removed from office on August 31.

On September 20 the judge overseeing the investigation into the Petrobras scandal formally accepted the charges of corruption and money laundering against Lula, and he ordered the former president, his wife (Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva), and six others to stand trial. Lula once again protested his innocence, arguing that the charges were politically motivated and intended to prevent him from running for president in 2018. By 2017 Lula faced corruption charges in five separate cases related to the Petrobras scandal. In early February 2017 his wife died, having suffered a stroke in January. The trial in which she would have been a codefendant—involving the luxury apartment and OAS—began in May. Characterized as Brazil’s “trial of the century,” it kicked off with Lula giving a five-hour deposition to Judge Sérgio Moro, the towering figure who had led the “Operation Car Wash” probe into the scandal. In July Lula was found guilty of corruption and money laundering. He was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison but remained free pending appeal.

Lula remained at the centre of Brazilian politics while the Regional Federal Tribunal 4, an appellate court in Porto Alegre, weighed his fate. The court’s decision stood to determine not only whether Lula would be sent to prison but also whether he would be permitted to run for president in October 2018. Many Brazilians saw the possibility of another Lula presidency as a repudiation of the attempt to remove corruption from the country’s politics, but opinion polls showed Lula to hold a commanding lead over his closest potential rival for office. On January 24, 2018, the three-judge panel unanimously upheld Lula’s conviction and increased his sentence to 12 years and one month. Because his conviction had been upheld, under the Clean Record law (enacted in 2010 during Lula’s presidency), Lula was prohibited from running for public office; however, he still had the option of appealing the appellate court’s decision to the Supreme Court. Moreover, there was speculation that he would appeal the prohibition of his candidacy, arguing that preventing him from running would subvert Brazilian democracy.

On April 5 the Supreme Court voted 6–5 to deny Lula’s request to remain free while he continued to appeal his conviction, a decision that ignited two days of high political drama as Lula initially refused to turn himself in to begin his prison term. Once the Supreme Court had ruled, Judge Moro ordered Lula to surrender to authorities in Curitiba by 5:00 pm on April 6 to begin serving his prison sentence. Instead of turning himself in, Lula took refuge in the union headquarters outside São Paulo where he had begun his political career. Lula’s supporters surrounded the building, and the deadline passed without federal law enforcement officials attempting to penetrate the crowd to arrest Lula, out of fear of sparking violence.

On April 7 Lula appeared before the crowd outside and gave an impassioned speech in which he continued to protest his innocence, saying that his prosecution and conviction were politically motivated efforts to prevent him from carrying on the fight to narrow income inequality in Brazil. Stating that he believed in the rule of law, however, he announced that he would surrender, and that evening he did. After giving himself up, Lula was transported by helicopter to Curitiba to begin serving his sentence outside the general prison population, in a special cell to which he was remanded in consideration of the “dignity of the office he held.” His chances of becoming the Workers’ Party’s presidential candidate had seemingly evaporated, and the party was left without an obvious choice to replace the man who had been running well ahead of all opponents in preelection polling. When it met at its national convention in São Paulo on August 4, 2018, however, the Workers’ Party chose to nominate Lula as its candidate anyway. The party’s intention appeared to be to create so much popular support for Lula that the courts would be compelled to release him to campaign. In the wake of the Superior Electoral Court’s ruling on August 31 that Lula was “ineligible” to run for the presidency, and with the deadline for the Workers’ Party to register its candidate fast approaching, Lula announced on September 11 that he was ending his candidacy and throwing his support to his running mate, Fernando Haddad, the former mayor of São Paulo. With Lula out of the race, Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing nationalist who pledged to eliminate corruption, was swept into office in the late October runoff election against Haddad.

In early February 2019 Lula was convicted in another corruption case. This time he was sentenced to an additional 12 years and 11 months in prison for having accepted bribes from construction companies in the form of a $235,000 renovation of a country home. Lula again refuted the charges, but the presiding judge found Lula’s claim that he was not the formal owner of the house unconvincing.

Lula’s incarceration had brought an ongoing vigil outside the prison that became the focal point not only of “Free Lula” efforts but also of leftist activism in general. In November 2019 Lula was released from prison following a decision by the Supreme Court that overturned the Court’s earlier ruling requiring the incarceration of convicted individuals whose first appeal had been denied. The ruling meant that Lula and others would be able to continue engaging in Brazil’s extensive appeals process as free individuals.

The prospect of Lula challenging Bolsonaro for the presidency in 2022 became a possibility in March 2021, when a Supreme Court judge ruled that the former president should never have been tried for corruption in Curitiba and dismissed the charges against him. Although that ruling, grounded in a technicality, remained subject to appeal to the full Supreme Court, and three other cases against Lula were still being conducted in Brasília, the March decision by Justice Edson Fachin meant that, for the time being, Lula was once again eligible to run for public office. In July 2022 he became the Workers’ Party’s official candidate in the 2022 presidential election.