The US president has threatened to impose tariffs on the group’s members, accusing them of seeking to undermine dollar hegemony
Brazil plans to strengthen ties with its fellow BRICS nations despite warnings from US President Donald Trump, a senior presidential adviser said on Saturday.
Washington had threatened tariffs over the country’s relations with the bloc and prosecution of former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Celso Amorim stated that the US pressure is “reinforcing our relations with the BRICS, because we want to have diversified relations and not depend on any one country.”
He added that Brazil is also pursuing closer ties with partners in Europe, South America and Asia in order to broaden its diplomatic and economic options.
Amorim went on to criticize Trump’s actions and pressure as meddling in Brazil’s internal affairs, saying the interference dwarfs anything seen “even in colonial times.”
“I don’t think even the Soviet Union would have done anything like this,” he said while denying that BRICS is an ideological group.
Earlier this month, Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 50% on Brazilian imports, tying them to Brazil’s handling of the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who faces accusations of orchestrating a coup following his 2022 election defeat. In addition, Trump threatened an extra 10% levy against countries “aligning themselves” with the BRICS bloc, which he deemed to be “anti American.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pushed back, warning Trump that he is not “the emperor of the world” and that his country would not cave in to demands.
The US president has been a fierce critic of the group of emerging economies led by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Trump has blasted the bloc over what he described as attempts to “take over the dollar” stressing that he would spare no effort to preserve its hegemony.
Russian officials have said that while BRICS is not pursuing a common currency, 65% of trade among members is now conducted in national currencies. Moscow has also stressed that BRICS was never intended to rival the US, adding that debates about moving away from the dollar are caused by Washington’s “arbitrary” actions.
