US President Donald Trump is targeting Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa with high tariffs. The American President has accused all five nations of committing different transgressions, and he has hit Brazil, India and South Africa with tariffs between 30% and 50%. All five countries Trump is targeting have one thing in common. They are the five founding members of BRICS. Trump doesn’t like BRICS. He is convinced that the grouping is anti-America. And it seems like he’s striking back, going after each founding member individually.
What is BRICS?
Back in the year 2001, Goldman Sachs came out with a report, where the term BRIC was used for the first time. The report spoke about four emerging economies that were growing fast and warranted special attention. They were Brazil, Russia, India and China.
In 2009, the four nations decided to make the grouping official. The first BRICs summit was held in Russia’s Ekaterinburg, on June 16, 2009. It was considered a success, so a second summit was held in Brazil’s capital, Brasília, the following year. A special guest at the second summit was South Africa’s then-President, Jacob Zuma, who made the association permanent in December 2010. That’s when BRICS was truly born.
For about 13 years, the group stayed the same. The leaders of the five nations held summits annually. They formed numerous intra-BRICS institutions, like business and academic forums. In 2014, they created a BRICS bank, called the New Development Bank (NDB), which is based in Shanghai.
BRICS finally expanded in 2024, with Ethiopia, Egypt, the UAE and Iran officially joining the group’s ranks. In 2025, BRICS welcomed Indonesia as a member, bringing the grouping’s strength up to 10.
BRICS is essentially an international grouping of developing countries, that was started by the fastest growing economies of the world. It has steadily grown in clout over the years. So much so, that it has become a strong voice for all developing nations, also known as The Global South.
In 2025, the venue for the annual BRICS summit was Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. While the summit was underway, US President Donald Trump put up a social media post saying “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an additional 10% Tariff.” He was issuing outright threats to any country wanting to associate with BRICS.
Why is Trump angry at BRICS?
This year’s host, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, wants to change how the world trades. He wants countries to trade in their local currencies instead of US dollars. This is also known as De-dollarisation.
Trump has long believed that BRICS is trying to replace the US dollar. He has warned BRICS nations against de-dollarisation on multiple occasions and threatened them with tariffs. Lula’s statements during the latest BRICS summit brought Trump’s de-dollarisation fears to the fore again, and that’s when the American President decided to strike back.
How is Trump going after BRICS countries?
Trump is slapping tariffs on every BRICS nation, but he isn’t linking the tariffs to BRICS membership. He has a different excuse for punishing each country.
In the case of Brazil, he is accusing President Lula of orchestrating a Witch Hunt against his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. The penalty? 50% tariffs.
Russia could soon be facing “severe tariffs” over its war in Ukraine. India is already facing 50% tariffs, for importing Russian crude oil. Trump has accused India of fuelling the Russian war machine, despite New Delhi having been given a tacit nod to buy Russian oil by the previous American administration.
The US already went toe-to-toe with China. Trump raised tariffs to a whopping 125%, which China responded to in kind. Their trade war is on pause, but the tariffs might return if a deal isn’t hammered out soon.
And South Africa has been falsely accused of genocide against its white minority Afrikaners. The nation is facing 30% tariffs, the highest rate in Africa.
So, all the original BRICS members are getting hammered by Trump’s tariffs. Trump has been very clear that he sees BRICS as a threat to the dollar’s hegemony, and he has said that he will ensure that the “Dollar is King”. The question is, can the BRICS nations come together to fight back?
