Senior diplomats from the BRICS alliance convened in Brazil on Monday to address growing concerns regarding United States President Donald Trump’s latest wave of protectionist trade policies, AFP has reported.
The two-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro followed the International Monetary Fund’s revised global growth forecast, which was downgraded due to the disruptive effects of the new American tariffs.
According to AFP, the gathering includes foreign ministers from the expanded BRICS bloc—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—as well as newer members such as Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Together, these nations now represent nearly half of the world’s population and 39 percent of global GDP.
Brazil, which currently holds the rotating BRICS chairmanship, is hosting the event ahead of a high-level leaders’ summit scheduled for July.
Ahead of the gathering, Brazil’s BRICS representative, Mauricio Lyrio, stated that diplomats were negotiating a joint declaration on “the centrality and importance of the multilateral trading system.”
The meeting comes in the wake of a series of aggressive trade measures introduced by President Trump, who, since returning to office in January, has imposed a blanket 10 percent tariff on imports from dozens of countries.
China, a principal target of these measures, is now facing tariffs of up to 145 percent on certain goods. In response, Beijing has imposed duties of up to 125 percent on U.S. imports.
At last year’s BRICS summit, discussions centred around alternatives to dollar-dominated trade, prompting a sharp reaction from Washington. President Trump warned of punitive tariffs if member states pursued non-dollar transactions to bypass U.S. economic influence.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira is hosting this week’s discussions, which include participation from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
In a recent interview with Brazilian media outlet O Globo, Lavrov confirmed that BRICS members intend to “increase the share of national currencies in transactions” but noted that talk of a unified BRICS currency remains “premature.”
Beyond trade, the ongoing war in Ukraine is expected to feature prominently in discussions, especially in light of President Trump’s recent push for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly announced a three-day ceasefire from 8 to 10 May. The White House, however, dismissed the move, saying Trump is seeking a “permanent ceasefire first.”
The US President’s stance on Putin appeared to shift following his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the funeral of Pope Francis. Trump reportedly said, “I feel like he’s just tapping me along,” while urging Kyiv to reconsider its ambitions to reclaim Crimea.
Climate change is another key priority for Brazil during the talks, particularly as the country prepares to host the UN COP30 climate summit later this year in Belém, in the Amazon region.
On Tuesday, the BRICS ministers will be joined by representatives from nine “partner” nations, including several former Soviet states, alongside Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, and Nigeria.