Trump threatens extra 10% tariffs on Brics as leaders meet in Brazil
"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. Thank you for your attention to this matter," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He did not clarify or expand on the "anti-American policies" reference in his post.
Trump's administration is seeking to finalise dozens of trade deals with a wide range of countries before his July 9 deadline for the imposition of significant "retaliatory tariffs".
Brics nations represent more than half the world's population and 40% of its economic output, Lula noted in remarks on Saturday to business leaders, warning of rising protectionism.
The original Brics group gathered leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China at its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as members. This is the first summit of leaders to include Indonesia.
More than 30 nations have expressed interest in participating in the Brics, either as full members or partners.
Expansion of the Brics has added diplomatic weight to the gathering, which aspires to speak for developing nations across the Global South, strengthening calls for reforming global institutions such as the UN Security Council and the International Monetary Fund.
"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 US-led wars in the Middle East.
Urging the Brics to take the lead on reforms, Lula reflected on the G20 summit hosted in the same locale last November: "In a time, the international scene has deteriorated to the point that some of the initiatives we approved then would no longer be possible."
Stealing some thunder from this year's summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping chose to send his premier in his place. and Russian President Vladimir Putin is attending online due to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Several heads of state were gathered for discussions at Rio's Museum of Modern Art on Sunday and Monday, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
However, there are questions about the shared goals of an increasingly heterogeneous Brics group, which has grown to include regional rivals along with major emerging economies.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The South African
2 hours ago
- The South African
Donald Trump slams 'TRAIN WRECK' Elon Musk: 'He's gone off the rails!'
US President Donald Trump on Sunday slammed former ally Elon Musk's launching of a new political party as 'ridiculous,' deepening the Republican's feud with the man who was once his biggest backer. Trump also branded the SpaceX and Tesla tycoon a 'TRAIN WRECK' who had gone 'off the rails' after Musk said he wanted to challenge the current US political system. The world's richest man was almost inseparable from Trump as he headed the cost-cutting 'Department of Government Efficiency,' but they fell out hard over the president's 'big beautiful' tax and spending mega-bill. 'I think it's ridiculous to start a third party,' Donald Trump told reporters before he boarded Air Force One on his way back to Washington from his New Jersey golf club. 'It's always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion. Third parties have never worked. So he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous,' he said. South Africa-born Musk announced on Saturday that he would create the so-called 'America Party' to challenge what he called the United States' 'one-party system.' Musk says the president's massive domestic spending plan would explode the US debt, and has vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it. The former DOGE boss, who led a huge drive to slash federal spending and cut jobs, equated Trump's Republicans with rival Democrats when it came to domestic spending. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' Musk posted on X, the social media platform that he owns. Musk gave few details of his plan and it was not clear whether he had registered the party with US electoral authorities, but it could cause Republicans headaches in the 2026 midterm elections – and beyond. In a sign of how sensitive the issue could be for Trump, he took to his Truth Social network while still on Air Force One to double down on his assault on Musk. 'I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,' Trump posted. 'The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats.' In a lengthy diatribe, Trump repeated his earlier assertion that Musk's ownership of electric vehicle company Tesla had made him turn on the president due to the spending bill cutting subsidies for such automobiles. Musk has insisted that his opposition is primarily due to the bill increasing the US fiscal deficit and sovereign debt. Earlier on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also threw shade at Musk's attempts to enter the political fray, telling him to stick to running his companies. When asked by CNN if Musk's plan bothered the Trump administration, Bessent offered thinly veiled criticism. 'I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone,' Bessent said. 'So I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities.' Musk left DOGE in May to focus full-time on his corporate responsibilities, with Tesla's sales and image especially suffering from his brief venture into Trump's inner circle. Trump gave him a grand send-off in the Oval Office, during a bizarre ceremony during which Musk appeared with a black eye and received a golden key to the White House from the president. But just days later the two were exchanging bitter insults on social media after Musk criticised Trump's flagship spending bill. Trump would not comment on Sunday when asked if he would be asking Musk to return the golden key. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
2 hours ago
- The South African
Elon Musk claims he's created a new US political party
Elon Musk, an ex-ally of US President Donald Trump, said he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country's 'one-party system.' The world's richest person – and Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election – had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican's effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has clashed with Trump over the president's massive domestic spending plan, saying it would explode the US debt, and vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it. Now he has created the so-called America Party, his own political framework, through which to try and achieve that. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' the Space X and Tesla boss posted on X, the social media platform that he owns. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' Musk cited a poll – uploaded on Friday, US Independence Day – in which he asked whether respondents 'want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system' that has dominated US politics for some two centuries. The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses. 'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!' he posted on Saturday. Musk also shared a meme depicting a two-headed snake and the caption 'End the Uniparty.' It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that. The Trump-Musk feud reignited in dramatic fashion late last month as Trump pushed Republicans in Congress to ram through his massive domestic agenda in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Musk expressed fierce opposition to the legislation, and ruthlessly attacked its Republican backers for supporting 'debt slavery.' He vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit. 'They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,' Musk said earlier this week. After Musk heavily criticised the flagship spending bill – which eventually passed Congress and was signed into law – Trump threatened to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses. 'We'll have to take a look,' the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and has held US citizenship since 2002. On Friday after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House and Senate seats and become 'the deciding vote' on key legislation. 'One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,' Musk posted on X. All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one third of the Senate's 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years. Some observers were quick to point out how third-party campaigns have historically split the vote – as businessman Ross Perot's independent presidential run in 1992 did when it helped doom George H.W. Bush's re-election bid resulting in Democrat Bill Clinton's victory. 'You are pulling a Ross Perot, and I don't like it,' one X user wrote to Musk. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
eNCA
2 hours ago
- eNCA
US to impose 30% tariff on all SA goods
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa is just three weeks away from a major trade blow. From 1 August, the US will impose a 30% tariff on all South African goods. This has been announced by US President Donald Trump in a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Trump administration says South Africa sells more to the US than it buys, and claims this trade imbalance justifies the penalty. The tariffs follow Trump's global 'reciprocal tariff' policy, which many critics say is based on flawed reasoning, not real economics.
