AsianFin -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that countries aligning with the BRICS group’s “anti-American policies” will face an additional 10% tariff, as the bloc of developing economies gathers in Brazil for its latest summit.
“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social late Sunday evening U.S. time. He did not elaborate on what constitutes “anti-American” behavior or which nations might be targeted.
Trump’s remarks come as BRICS members meet in Rio de Janeiro, deepening coordination across political, economic, and security dimensions. The grouping—which now includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran—has increasingly positioned itself as a counterweight to U.S.-led institutions, advocating for greater representation of Global South countries in global governance.
BRICS describes itself as a “political and diplomatic coordination forum” for emerging economies and a platform for cooperation in areas ranging from finance to climate to development. The expansion of the bloc and its growing geopolitical ambitions have drawn close scrutiny from Washington, particularly amid rising U.S.-China tensions and Western sanctions on Russia and Iran.
Trump’s warning comes amid a broader recalibration of U.S. trade policy, with his administration actively renegotiating tariff rates and threatening higher levies on countries that resist bilateral deals aimed at narrowing the U.S. trade deficit.
It remains unclear how or when the additional BRICS-related tariffs would be implemented, and whether U.S. trade officials will formalize the policy in the coming days.
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