What Issues Will BRICS Leaders Discuss at an Extraordinary Summit?

An extraordinary BRICS online summit will be held on September 8, initiated by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The leaders of all member countries have confirmed their participation: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The meeting is convened to develop BRICS countries' joint response to U.S. tariff policy, but it will also address broader issues of global economic and political cooperation.

Why Was the BRICS Summit Convened Urgently?

Brazilian Congressman Ruy o'toni emphasized that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva intends to achieve a "common reaction from the community" to Washington's tariff policy at the summit.

The meeting will primarily focus on this topic, namely, finding a common response from the bloc's [countries] affected by [U.S.] tariffs. A response is needed from the entire bloc, not just a specific country. This is the goal of President Lula.

— O'toni noted in an interview with TASS.

According to Jose Victor Ferro, a research assistant at the Barcelona Institute of International Studies, this step is a response to the U.S.'s "extortionate policy," and the initiative is particularly relevant for China and India, which also face excessively high and often arbitrary U.S. tariffs.

What Position Will BRICS Countries Take Regarding the U.S.?

"Washington's aggressive rhetoric is not so much a demonstration of strength as a reaction to the gradual loss of global leadership and the strengthening of alternative power centers," explained Albert Bakhtizin, director of the Central Economic and Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Anton Kobyakov added that "the East is becoming the main driver of the global economy, while Europe is losing its autonomy in financial, energy, and technological spheres."

• Increasing trade in national currencies. This is one of the possible steps for the bloc to reduce its dependence on U.S. policy fluctuations, as noted by Jose Victor Ferro.
• Increasing investments in national currencies. The BRICS Bank is already actively investing in member and partner countries, and expanding such investments is an important area of development, reports the expert.
• Expanding dialogue among bloc members. Ferro recalled that BRICS is primarily a forum for political coordination, not an economic bloc, which emphasizes the importance of constant dialogue.
• Strengthening common markets. Arturo Ayala, Secretary for International Relations of the Peruvian Communist Party "Red Homeland," called strengthening common markets one of BRICS's priority tasks, emphasizing that this "strengthens economic alternatives to both the dollar and the financial system dominated by the U.S. and Europe."

How Will the Participation of All BRICS Leaders Affect the Summit's Status?

Brazilian Congressman Ruy o'toni stated that Putin's presence at the summit will be an "important signal for the entire association," emphasizing that it will "strengthen the meeting's status and the significance of its outcomes."