Brazil plans to double its commitments to the BRICS amid threats from US President Donald Trump to impose “punitive duties.” This was stated to the Financial Times by the president’s chief foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim.
“(Trump’s attacks on Brazil) strengthen our relations with BRICS because we want to diversify our relations and not depend on any country,” Amorim said.
In addition to the BRICS countries, Brazil intends to develop relations with other countries in Europe, South America and Asia, the adviser added.
The American president has already threatened Brazil with tariffs this month. During the BRICS summit, which took place in Rio, Trump promised to impose 10 percent duties on countries that joined the “anti-American” bloc, and later threatened with 50 percent duties on Brazil proper and demanded an end to the prosecution of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, accused of plotting a coup.
Trump is “trying to act politically inside Brazil, in support of his friend,” Amorim said. He called such interference in the internal affairs of the country unprecedented. Even in colonial times, America did not interfere so much in Brazil’s affairs, he stressed.