Brazilian President slams US tariffs, describes as ‘blackmail’

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized what he described as “tariff blackmail” by the US, at a time when his country is facing off with Washington over hefty trade tariffs.

During a virtual meeting of BRICS leaders on Monday, Lula said, “Tariff blackmail is being normalized as an instrument to conquer markets and interfere in domestic affairs.”

For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the 11-member BRICS bloc to resist all forms of protectionism, stressing, “We must defend the multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization at its core.”

“No matter how the international situation changes, we must remain committed to building an open global economy, sharing opportunities, and achieving win-win outcomes through openness,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin also participated in the meeting. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided not to attend, with his country represented by the Foreign Minister, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

Brazil aims through this meeting to rally leaders of major emerging economies in support of multilateralism, in the face of increasing US tariffs, Bloomberg reported.

A Brazilian official told the agency that the meeting will last only two hours without issuing a joint statement, leaving it up to each leader to decide whether to publish their speech.