ISTANBUL
Silence and compromise on the tariff war initiated by the US will “only embolden the bully,” China’s top diplomat Wang Yi has told the bloc of emerging economies at a summit in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro.
“The United States has been pursuing unilateralism, putting its own interests first, and putting its own interests above international interests,” Wang told counterparts from the BRICS nations at a summit in Brazil on Monday.
Stressing that maintaining multilateral trade rules “is the most urgent issue at present,” Wang said: “It is not a calculation of who suffers or who takes advantage, and it must not be a tool to achieve one’s own selfish interests,” according to a readout from Beijing.
The Donald Trump administration last month initiated wide-ranging tariffs against the US’ allies and rivals alike. China was the biggest which faces tariffs up to 245%.
Trump has given a 90-day break on imposing tariffs on imports from all nations except China, which retaliated with its own 125% tariffs on all imports from the US.
Wang noted the US had “benefited greatly from free trade for a long time.”
“But now it is using tariffs as bargaining chips to demand exorbitant prices from other countries. If we choose to remain silent, compromise and retreat, it will only make the bully more aggressive,” said the Chinese foreign minister, urging the BRICS to “jointly oppose all forms of protectionism.”
He proposed the bloc to “firmly safeguard the multilateral trading system based on rules and with the World Trade Organization at its core, safeguard its core values and basic principles, and promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade.”
“People have seen that the law of the jungle of the survival of the fittest has openly appeared, coercion and bullying no longer need to be disguised, and the foundation for the development of international relations is under continuous threat,” he warned.
BRICS, a geopolitical alliance established in 2009, was originally composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Brazil is the current chair of the bloc which has 11 full members, including China, Egypt, Russia, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, and Indonesia.
Currently, BRICS accounts for 40% of the world’s population and 35% of global GDP, making it a significant player on the geopolitical stage. Its membership continues to grow, with 13 nations recently joining as partner countries.
