In the history of BRICS, never has any joint statement issued after a leader-level summit contained any remarks—directly or indirectly, against the US. However, for the first time, during the 17th summit of BRICS in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, leaders voiced their concern about America’s imposition of tariffs on its trade partners, seen as unilateral bullying tactics which has kicked off deep resentment among countries of the Global South.

Facing punitive levies, with only a few countries such as the UK and Vietnam managing to secure confirmed tariff agreements with the US so far, there is a feeling that the Trump administration has resorted to protectionist policies when the whole world, especially the Global South, is coping with recession.

“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules. In this context, we reiterate our support for the rules-based, open, transparent, fair, inclusive, equitable, non-discriminatory, consensus-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core, with special and differential treatment (S&DT) for its developing members,” the Rio de Janeiro Declaration noted without taking the US’s name.

With major economies and members of international forum like G20 and G7 hamstrung by Trump’s disruptive ‘America First’ approach, the BRICS leaders’ move to raise concerns by over America’s unilateral decision to impose hefty tariff on goods from partner countries has opened the space for confrontation, instead of coordination, between the US and developing economies.

Exacerbating crisis in Global South
On July 6, hours after the Rio de Janeiro declaration was issued in Brazil, Trump said in a social media post that any country aligning itself with “the anti-American policies of BRICS will be charged an additional 10% tariff. There will be no exception to this policy.” Though he did not specify what constituted anti-American policies, he had earlier threatened the BRICS nations with a 100% tariff if they “even think” about reducing the use of the dollar in global trade.

Experts warn that if Trump does not reverse his threat of imposing hefty tariffs on goods entering the American market from countries which find negotiating trade deals with the US very difficult, economic uncertainty is bound to hit the world hard. This sentiment very much found its echo in the BRICS’ Rio de Janeiro declaration too.

“The proliferation of trade-restrictive actions, whether in the form of indiscriminate rising of tariffs and non-tariff measures…. threatens to further reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty into international economic and trade activities, potentially exacerbating existing economic disparities and affecting prospects for global economic development,” said the 17th BRICS declaration.

“US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs have unleashed economic chaos, roiling stock and bond markets and triggering panic around the world, especially in lower-income countries that rely heavily on exports to the United States,” Jayati Ghosh, economist and former JNU professor, wrote in her recent article in Project Syndicate.

Myanmar, a country which is in the grip of intensive civil war since February 2021 and Laos, which is trapped in a severe debt crisis with total public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt estimated to exceed 100% of GDP, face a threat of 40% hike in tariffs on their products if they are supplied to the US.

While Bangladesh has been threatened with a steep 35% tariff on its goods, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina face a 30% tariff on their products. Cambodia and Thailand have been threatened with a 36% tariff and they are scrambling for ways to reduce its impact on their exports to the US. According to Reuters, Thailand has submitted a new trade proposal to the US in which it has offered to cut levies to zero on many American imports in a bid to avoid steep tariff hikes on its own products.

Indonesia has expressed its apprehension that if negotiations with the US on the tariff issue fail, it may witness a decrease in economic output. The US has slapped a 32% tariff on Indonesia which supplies footwear, textile, palm oil, electrical machinery, and fishery products to the American market. In 2024, Indonesia enjoyed a trade surplus of $17.9 billion with the US, according to the US Trade Representative.

Similarly, Malaysia says that the US levies will weigh heavily on the country’s economy with its growth estimate remaining at 4% or 4.5% in 2025. Viewing the US’s threat as a unilateral measure, Kuala Lumpur fears that it will have a disruptive effect on business operations, supply chains and investment flows from the US. President Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Malaysia.

Impact on global supply chain
Experts say the looming threat of increased tariffs will impact the global supply chain. They cite the example of semiconductors, considered as an essential component for everything from smartphones to automobiles. Taiwanese and South Korean companies dominate the world market in chip production, they say.

However, materials and equipment come from Japan and the Netherlands, while chips are incorporated into final goods in China before being exported to the different corners of the world.

Similarly, smartphones are definitive global products with chips from Taiwan, displays from South Korea, rare earth materials from China, and assembly lines in India and Vietnam. In this background, the US president’s threat to slap a 25% tariff on smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung risks torpedoing this delicate balancing in smartphone productions and their supply in the world, say experts.

Impact on global geopolitics
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s statement at the end of the Rio de Janeiro summit – “the world has changed. We do not want an emperor” – has hinted clearly that countries of the Global South are ready to find another way of organising the world different from the US and its assertive policies.

In this regard, a move has already been made with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa asking his country’s companies to accelerate their diversification efforts and reduce reliance on US trade.

Seen as adversarial stance, experts say, even if Trump’s tariffs may yield some immediate revenue, in the long term, it may have consequences for the US in terms of alienation of key allies and acceleration of the fragmentation of global trade networks, ultimately eroding US influence in the global economy.

For the US itself, experts argue, tariffs cannot possibly achieve their purported goals of boosting the government's coffer, fueling employment growth or reviving manufacturing. Rather they are likely to trigger inflation, weaken innovation and undermine competitiveness of American goods.  All this at the time when drop in US stocks, bonds, and dollar, has already diminished confidence in America’s economic strength.