China on Monday (July 7) evening said reckless imposition of tariffs will not serve any nation’s interest in response to US President Donald Trump’s threat to levy an additional 10% tariff on BRICS nations.
This latest round of abrupt tariff imposition comes hours before the US president is expected to send letters detailing tariff and trade deals with the US at 12 pm (EST) on July 7.
“Imposing tariffs arbitrarily is not in the interests of any party,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning told Chinese state media Global Times.
Trump had accused the BRICS grouping of developing countries of being anti-American, and said each member will face the additional tariff charge with “no exceptions” after the group flagged concerns about rampant unilateral trade practices in its annual summit.
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“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Ning described BRICS is an important platform for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries and does not target any one country. She reiterated China’s consistent opposition to using “tariffs as a tool of coercion and pressure.”
China has repeatedly maintained that there’s no winner in a tariff war. “We hope the US will work with China in the same direction to uphold and act on the important common understandings,” the Chinese spokesperson had said on July 4.
The two-day BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, concluded on July 7 with members unanimously raising concerns over global trade practices with increasing restrictions, including tariff imposition.
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“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules,” the members stated in the declaration.
Founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China as BRIC to keep Western dominance of the world order in check, it and later became BRICS when South Africa joined the group in 2010. In 2024, the group expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, followed by Indonesia in 2025.
