US President Donald Trump has warned that any country that aligns itself with the “anti-American policies” of the BRICS economic bloc will face an additional 10 percent tariff.
"There will be no exceptions to this policy," he wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Sunday.
In another post, he announced that US tariff letters and/or agreements with various countries across the world "will be delivered starting 1600 GMT, Monday, July 7th."
In late January, Trump said, “There is no chance that BRICS (countries) will replace the US dollar in international trade, or anywhere else.”
"We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar, or they will face 100 percent Tariffs," he added.
BRICS members have discussed shifting from the dollar in recent years, with discussions intensifying after the US imposed sanctions on Russia in 2022 following the start of its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Trump's statements Sunday came as leaders and representatives from BRICS are gathering in Rio de Janeiro for the group's 17th annual summit.
BRICS nations slam Trump tariffs
BRICS leaders at a summit on Sunday had taken aim at Trump's "indiscriminate" import tariffs and recent Israeli-US strikes on Iran.
The 11 nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, account for about half the world's population and 40 percent of global economic output.
The bloc is divided about much but found common cause when it comes to the mercurial US leader and his stop-start tariff wars, even if it avoided naming him directly.
Voicing "serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff" measures, BRICS members said the tariffs risked hurting the global economy, according to a summit joint statement.
Strikes on Iran condemned
Earlier, BRICS also offered symbolic backing to fellow member Iran, condemning a series of military strikes on nuclear and other targets carried out by Israel and the United States.
In April, Trump threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties, before offering a months-long reprieve in the face of a fierce market sell-off.
Trump has warned he will impose unilateral levies on partners unless they reach "deals" by August 1.
In an apparent concession to US allies such as Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia, the summit declaration did not criticise the United States or its president by name at any point.
No show
Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to US and Western European power.
But as the group has expanded to include Iran, Saudi Arabia and others, it has struggled to reach meaningful consensus on issues from Israel’s war on Gaza to challenging US global dominance.
BRICS nations, for example, collectively called for a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
An Iranian diplomatic source said his government's "reservations" had been conveyed to Brazilian hosts. Still, Iran stopped short of rejecting the statement outright.
In perhaps a further sign of the diplomatic sensitivities, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister skipped Sunday's discussions entirely, according to a Brazilian government source.
Saudi Arabia is among the world's leading beneficiaries of high-tech US military exports and is a long-standing US partner.
The political punch of this year's summit has been depleted by the absence of China's Xi Jinping, who skipped the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
The Chinese leader is not the only notable absentee. Russian President Vladimir Putin, charged with “war crimes” in Ukraine, also opted to stay away, participating via video link.
He told counterparts that BRICS had become a key player in global governance.
The summit also called for a regulation governing artificial intelligence and said the technology could not be the preserve of only rich nations.
The commercial AI sector is currently dominated by US tech giants, although China and other nations have rapidly developing capacity.
