Trump threatens BRICS with tariffs
July 7, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of the BRICS group, as the leaders of the forum that bills itself as a haven of multilateralism, kicked off a leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro yesterday.
Trump’s threat was made on social media yesterday, and he did did not clarify or expand on the "Anti-American policies" reference in his post, which came hours after a BRICS joint statement warned the rise in tariffs threatened global trade, continuing its veiled criticism of Trump's tariff policies, reports Reuters.
The US administration’s 90-day tariff pause is set to come to an end on Wednesday and Trump confirmed yesterday night that letters will be sent out to dozens of countries starting today. (CNN)
Later China said BRICS does not seek confrontation and does not target any country. "On the U.S. tariff hikes, China has made its position clear more than once. Trade wars and tariff wars have no winners, and protectionism leads nowhere,” said a government spokesperson. (Newsweek)
In opening remarks to the summit earlier, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva compared BRICS with the Cold War's Non-Aligned Movement, a group of developing nations that resisted joining either side of a polarized global order.
"If international governance does not reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it is up to BRICS to help bring it up to date," Lula said in his remarks, which highlighted the failure of U.S.-led wars in the Middle East.
Behind the scenes, divisions over how harshly BRICS should condemn the strikes against Iran — a recently joined member — have tested the alliance’s ambitions to rebalance global power dynamics by offering a counterweight to the West, according to the New York Times.
Nonetheless, the summit “is both a dress rehearsal for the Belém Cop30 UN climate conference in November and a rebuke to wealthier countries that have withdrawn to bunkers, launched missiles and choked off aid to poorer regions,” writes Jonathan Watts in the Guardian.
Though the block is increasingly divided, “BRICS leaders appear most united in their frustration at double standards and exclusionary practices. Rewriting the rules of global governance is the central goal of Brazil, which has called for an overhaul of the UN to make it “more democratic, representative, effective and efficient” and to increase the representation of developing countries in its key decision-making bodies,” writes Watts.
The two-day summit was marked by the absence of two of its most powerful members, notes the Associated Press. 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 videoconference, refrained from traveling abroad due to an international arrest warrant issued after Russia invaded Ukraine.
More BRICS
Also at the BRICS summit, yesterday, Lula said says the world must act to stop what he described as an Israeli “genocide” in Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
More Tariffs
Faced with Trump’s tariffs, countries and companies around Latin America find themselves caught between Asia’s cheap supply lines and the lucrative U.S. market. Brazil and Colombia have moved closer to China, but many Mexican companies have rushed to align with the United States, despite the pain of moving away from China, which sells 11 times as much to Mexico as it buys, reports the New York Times.
Regional
“The Mashco Piro, the world’s largest uncontacted Indigenous group, face growing threats from logging, drug trafficking and the climate crisis in the Brazil-Peru borderlands. Recent raids in Brazil highlight their struggle for territory and resources, worsened by environmental changes and criminal activity. Despite legal protection and international agreements, cooperation between Brazil and Peru remains inadequate, putting the Mashco Piro at risk,” reports the Guardian.
Colombia
Colombian authorities said they detained the alleged mastermind behind the shooting of Miguel Uribe Turbay, a conservative Colombian senator and presidential candidate, almost a month ago. (Associated Press)
Mexico
The U.S. justice department has begun to hand over audio recordings of the 1985 torture and killing of Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena to a Mexican kingpin’s legal defense team, reports the Guardian.
“Protests in Mexico City against a surge in tourism and rising prices turned violent on Friday night, damaging over a dozen businesses and drawing condemnation from officials,” reports the New York Times.
Suriname
Suriname has elected Jennifer Geerlings-Simons as its first female president, with parliament backing the 71-year-old physician and lawmaker to lead the nation, reports Al Jazeera.
Geerlings-Simons will succeed current president Chandrikapersad Santokhi, 66, who has been in office since 2020 and was eligible for re-election – but whose party failed to secure the two-thirds parliamentary majority required in the country’s indirect voting system, reports the Guardian.
Haiti
With the government in collapse and even a U.N.-backed international police mission unable to establish security, Haitian self-defense groups cast themselves as the last line of defense against gangs that extort, kidnap, rape and kill with impunity. But though they enjoy the backing of officials, victims, analysts, rights activists and U.N. officials say they are increasingly committing the same abuses, including against children, worsening lawlessness in the crisis-racked nation, reports the Washington Post.
The relatives of a Kenyan police officer who went missing in March while working in Haiti, as part of an international security support mission, say authorities have not given definitive information about what has happened to him, reports the Guardian.
Argentina
Argentine President Javier Milei’s punishing budget cuts have forced scientific researchers to take up work as electricians, school teachers or Uber drivers, reports the Guardian.
Critter Corner
What the preserved remains of a Fiona, a pregnant ichthyosaur who died about 131 million years ago in what is now Chile, tell us — New York Times