The upper diplomats of the BRICS countries will meet on Monday in Brazil to present a united front in front of the threats that arise from the aggressive commercial policies of the president of the United States.
The meeting arrives at a critical moment for the world economy after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week reduced the growth forecasts on the impact of the new rates of the US leader.
The diplomats of the commercial block that include the current president Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet for two days in Rio de Janeiro, as the precursor of a leaders of leaders in July.
“The ministers are negotiating a statement aimed at reaffirming the centrality and importance of the multilateral commercial system,” said BRICS representative of Brazil, Mauricio Lyrio, to journalists on Saturday.
The group has expanded significantly since its inception in 2009, and now includes Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. It represents almost half of the world population and 39 percent of world GDP.
Trump since he returned to the White House in January has affected dozens of countries with a general rate of 10 percent, but China faces levies of up to 145 percent in many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods.
Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on BRICS countries if they undermine the US dollar.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, will organize the meeting to which Sergei Lavrov de Russia and Wang Yi of China will attend, among others.
It is scheduled to start around 11:00 am (1400 GMT) with a statement expected in the afternoon.
Climate change is expected to have an outstanding place on the agenda before the United Nations Cop30 climate summit in November organized by Brazil in the Amazon city of Belem.
The group is also likely to discuss the war in Ukraine, since Trump seeks to push Russia and Ukraine towards a peace agreement.
The BRICS will join the discussions on Tuesday by nine other “partners”, including several ancient Soviet states, as well as Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Nigeria.
China says ‘Without phone call’ recently between XI and Trump
Beijing insisted that “no phone call” recently took place between President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart, after Donald Trump said he had spoken to the Chinese leader.
The two largest economies in the world are locked in a commercial battle of Tit -for-Tat caused by Trump’s taxes on Chinese products, which have reached 145 % in many products.
In an interview conducted on April 22 with Time magazine And published on Friday, Trump insisted that Chinese leader Xi called him despite the fact that Beijing denied that there had been some contact between the two countries about his bitter commercial dispute.
The president of the United States did not say when the call took place or specified what was discussed.
When asked about the comments on Monday, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun, said: “As far as I know, there has not been a phone call between the two heads of state recently.”
“China and the United States are not making consultations or negotiations on tariff issues,” he added.
