China has said that BRICS members discussed US reciprocal tariffs and expressed "serious concern" about trade tensions.
Beijing said on Saturday that Washington's tariffs have "severely undermined the international trade system, disrupted global industrial and supply chains, and caused a prolonged impact on the world economy" during the second meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues earlier this week, according to a statement by the Commerce Ministry.
China urged member countries to "steadfastly adhere to the correct direction of globalisation, jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system based on rules, and maintain global economic stability."
Members also expressed "grave concern" about the "severe impact" of the tariffs on the multilateral trading system, said the statement, adding that several members said the penalties "seriously violate" World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and pointed out the possible negative effect they could have on the "global economic growth" and "the interests of developing countries."
Tensions rise between the two major powers following Trump’s decision to pause tariffs on all countries for 90 days, except China.
Lawsuit with WTO
Separately, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao held a video call Friday with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to discuss US reciprocal tariffs and the organisation's role.
China has filed lawsuits with the WTO because of the tariffs.
China's comments came after its 125 percent counter-tariffs on the US took effect earlier on Saturday, escalating trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
BRICS is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
