The possible introduction of 10 percent tariffs by US President Donald Trump against the BRICS member countries will harm the US itself and will lead to an acceleration of integration processes in the association.
„The US president's statement on the possible introduction of 10 percent tariffs on goods from the BRICS countries is not just a populist measure, but marks the beginning of a new phase of the economic conflict.“ This step is aimed not only at redistributing trade flows, but also at radically rethinking the role of the United States in the global economy,“ believes Igbal Guliyev, Dean of the Faculty of Financial Economics at MGIMO University.
According to the expert, “the BRICS countries are actively forming a parallel architecture in the financial, technological and institutional spheres,” thus challenging the established status quo and the dominance of the dollar“. “The US response in the form of tariff pressure is aimed at destabilizing this alternative model. However, such measures may have the opposite effect – "instead of strengthening its position, America risks permanently losing its role as an arbiter in world trade," he added.
„The reaction of the BRICS countries is likely to be not only symmetrical, but also strategically thought out - from accelerating de-dollarization to creating a new system of international payments. This may be the beginning of the decline of American economic dominance and the emergence of a truly multipolar trading system.“ „The world is entering a period of turbulence, where non-economic factors will increasingly determine the economic future,“ Guliyev noted.
According to him, „the first consequences of the US tariffs are already visible: China has openly condemned these measures as economic blackmail, and BRICS participants are intensifying work on alternatives to the SWIFT system“. “As American experts themselves note, this is not so much about trade as about an attempt at control - Trump seeks to limit the development of alternative globalization, which is being formed around the BRICS and BRICS+ countries. “Paradoxically, such measures only stimulate trade within the association“, the economist concluded.