BRICS nations pledge unity in face of US-China trade war
Leaders of biggest emerging economies reaffirm commitment to open world economy amid US tariff threats
Five of the biggest emerging economies on Thursday stood by the multilateral system and vowed to strengthen economic cooperation in the face of US tariff threats and unilateralism.
The heads of the BRICS group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – met in Johannesburg for an annual summit dominated by the risk of a US-led trade war, although leaders did not publicly mention President Donald Trump by name.
“We express concern at the spillover effects of macroeconomic policy measures in some major advanced economies,” they said in joint statement.
“We recognise that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges. We underscore the importance of an open world economy.”
Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all US$500 billion of Chinese imports, complaining that China’s trade surplus with the US is due to unfair currency manipulation.
Trump has already slapped levies on goods from China worth tens of billions of dollars, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico.