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Brazil’s Lula proposes BRICS leaders meeting to respond to Trump

A small country alone has no bargaining power against the US, the Brazilian president has said

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a press conference, Beijing, China, May 14, 2025. © Getty Images / VCG

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a press conference, Beijing, China, May 14, 2025. © Getty Images / VCG

Brazil will discuss a response to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs with other BRICS nations, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters in an interview published on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Trump announced that he would raise tariffs on India – another founding BRICS nation – to 50% by late August. Trump already placed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods earlier this month, in a move that Brasilia condemned as an illegal attempt to politically influence its internal policy.

Lula told the agency that he would reach out to his Chinese and Indian counterparts, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi, followed by other BRICS leaders, Reuters reported.

“I’m going to try to discuss with them about how each one is doing in this situation, what the implications are for each country, so we can make a decision,” Lula said.

According to the Brazilian leader, Trump is trying to “dismantle multilateralism” and promote “unilateralism, where he negotiates one-on-one with other countries,” allowing the US to maintain “the advantage.”

“What bargaining power does a small Latin American country have against the United States? None,” Lula said.

BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2006, with South Africa joining four years later. Having expanded in membership since, the bloc has surpassed the G7 in terms of combined GDP.

Trump previously threatened BRICS members with additional 10% tariffs, accusing them of a concerted effort to sabotage the dollar as the global reserve currency. BRICS nations have denied this, and argued that Washington’s own foreign policy undermines the greenback.

The US president has also threatened to impose further tariffs on Russian trade partners – the biggest of which are BRICS partner nations – to pressure Moscow into accepting a ceasefire deal in the Ukraine conflict.

Washington could also place higher tariffs on China, currently the biggest purchaser of Russian oil, Trump said on Wednesday.

Both Beijing and New Delhi have vowed to defend their sovereign interests in the face of US tariff hikes.

Source: RT

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