Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has denounced what he called "tariff blackmail" as the South American giant as well as India deal with a 50 percent import charge imposed by US counterpart Donald Trump.
"Tariff blackmail is being normalised as an instrument for market conquest and to interfere in domestic affairs," Lula said on Monday during a virtual meeting of BRICS leaders including China's Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin of Russia and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa.
Lula convened the virtual meeting to discuss "the defence of multilateralism".
Brazil's exports to the United States plunged 18.5 percent year-on-year in August after Trump slapped his highest level of trade tariff on a range of goods from Latin America's biggest economy.
Trump is punishing Brazil for what he calls a "witch hunt" against his ally, former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting a coup to take power back from Lula, who defeated him in October 2022 elections.
A verdict in the trial is expected this week.
Brazil has said it is considering retaliatory trade measures against the United States, and has asked the World Trade Organization for help in resolving the dispute.
India against 'increasing barriers'
It is imperative for the world that economic practices are fair, transparent and to everyone's benefit, India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a virtual summit of the BRICS.
"The world requires constructive and cooperative approaches to promote trade that is sustainable," Jaishankar said in comments published by India's Foreign Ministry.
"Increasing barriers and complicating transactions will not help. Neither would the linking of trade measures to non-trade matters," India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, according to a speech shared by India's Foreign Ministry.
US tariffs on Indian goods were doubled last month to as high as 50 percent in response to India's continued imports of Russian oil.
"Certain countries have launched trade wars and tariff wars, severely impacting the world economy and seriously undermining international trade rules," Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during the meeting, according to China's state-run news agency Xinhua.
"No matter how the international situation changes, we must remain steadfast in promoting the building of an open global economy, sharing opportunities and achieving win-win results through openness," Xi added.
The virtual meeting, which lasted 1-1/2 hours, brought together leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia, Brazil's government said in a separate statement.
The group discussed the risks posed by the resurgence of unilateral measures, particularly in international trade, and explored ways to strengthen mechanisms for solidarity, coordination, and trade among BRICS nations, the statement said.
