In a post on True Society on Monday, Trump warned that the US would impose an additional 10% tariff on countries that “adjust itself in line with BRICS’s anti-American policies.”
His comments came as a group with 10 members, including Russia, China, Brazil, India and South Africa, closing the annual summit in Rio de Janeiro, RT reported.
“I don’t think it’s very serious about the fact that a president of a country that is as much of the US threatening the world on the Internet,” Lula told reporters at the end of the summit. “He needs to understand that the world has changed. We don’t want an emperor. We are a sovereign state. If we believe he can impose tariffs, we have the right to deal with them with our own tariffs.”
Lula said that relations between countries should be based on mutual respect. “And people need to understand what sovereignty really means. Each country is a master of its own destiny,” he added.
He also opposed Trump’s public support for former Brazilian president Jea Bolsonaro, who is on trial, allegedly trying to overturn the outcome of the 2022 election. In a recent post, Trump called the minutes a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
“We don’t accept interference or guidance from anyone. We have a solid, independent institution,” Lula said.
BRICS members have long debated ways to develop payment systems that increase the role of a country’s currency in trade and reduce its dependence on the US dollar.
MNA