The Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, joined South Africa to criticize Donald Trump for his threat of imposing additional tariffs against the BRICS, intensifying a dispute with the American leader during the last day he received the group of 10 members.
Lula said the US president was “irresponsible for threatening tariffs on social networks” before asking world leaders to find ways to reduce dependence on international dollar trade, A position shared by the group of emerging market nations.
Before, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first leader in revealing his whereabouts and criticizing Trump for his comments last night in which he warned the members of the BRICs of possible sanctions for adopting policies that, according to him, were “anti -American.”
“It is really disappointing that, before a collective demonstration as positive as that of the BRICS, there are others who see it with bad eyes and want to punish those who participate,” Ramaphosa told the press in Rio de Janeiro when leaving the two -day summit of the BRICS countries. “It can’t be or should be.”
Before the press conference, Lula’s advisors had implored him not to bite the hook and increase the tensions further.
The members of the group of ten countries with emerging market economies were mostly reluctant to address Trump’s warning about additional 10%tariffs.
Several officials from different countries affirmed that it was impossible to predict what Trump would do, since its original publication on social networks could be a specific or more rhetorical threat. They added that the only option for the group is to wait and see what happens.
However, The last day of the BRICS Summit in Rio was heading towards a confrontation. With hours of difference, Trump published two messages in Truth Social that put Brazil in the sight, First as a host country and then defending the political rival of Lula and presidential predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
The context is a constantly evolving tariff deadline for trade agreements, which has faced numerous countries, many of which attended the river summit, facing strong taxes. During the weekend, the BRICS criticized these US policies, making it clear that they were aimed at Trump, but avoiding mentioning it by name. A separate statement also condemned US and Israeli attacks against Iran.
The senior officials, waking up with the news in a rainy river, adopted a waiting attitude. However, the South African president chose to enter the contest, and the attention will focus on Lula when he offers a press conference scheduled for later that day.
“It is necessary to assess more the emergence of various power centers in the world,” Ramaphosa said, adding that “it should be seen positively and not negative.”
“It cannot be that now the power prevails when, in the end, the most powerful are those who seek to take revenge on those who seek to do good in the world,” he said
