Lula, Xi Decry Tariffs and Urge BRICS Unity Amid Trump Threats

Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decried the use of tariffs as a tool of “blackmail” while China’s Xi Jinping said trade wars were disrupting the global economy during a BRICS summit that took place against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s targeting of the bloc’s members.

Neither Lula nor Xi specifically mentioned Trump or the US during Monday remarks at a virtual gathering of BRICS countries, the group of emerging market nations formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and later South Africa that has since expanded to include other countries.