SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that more trade and financial integration between the BRICS group of developing nations would help mitigate the effects of protectionism.
“Tariff blackmail is being normalized as a tool for conquering markets and interfering in domestic issues,” Lula said in the government’s published remarks of a virtual meeting of BRICS leaders, without directly citing the United States.
BRICS members Brazil and India are among the countries hardest-hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, while new sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine are expected.
Lula had told Reuters in an interview last month he would raise the issue of Trump’s tariffs with BRICS.
The 50% levies on most Brazilian exports are linked to what Trump has described as a “witch hunt” against his ally and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently on trial for allegedly plotting a coup.
Tariffs on Indian goods were doubled last month to as high as 50% in response to India’s continued imports of Russian oil.
The virtual meeting, which lasted one and a half hours, brought together leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia, Brazil’s government said in a separate statement.
The group discussed the risks posed by the resurgence of unilateral measures, particularly in international trade, and explored ways to strengthen mechanisms for solidarity, coordination, and trade among BRICS nations, the statement said.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Alistair Bell)
