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JOHANNESBURG: While Donald Trump's wage talks threaten global trade wars, BRICS bloc leaders: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa should band together to defend the multilateralism the United States has defended . Leaders of major emerging nations are meeting in Johannesburg starting Wednesday for their first summit since the Trump administration has launched pressure to rebalance trade relations that the US president has deemed unjust.
Threatening to tear apart existing trade agreements To raise tariffs for steel and aluminum, the US move toward unilateral action has shaken allies and rivals traditional. And the BRICS nations have been at the forefront of global tensions.
Last week, Trump said he was ready to impose tariffs on the $ 500 billion worth of products imported from China. But even South Africa – a tiny exporter of steel, aluminum and automobiles to the United States – is facing obstacles.
"If you do not have a regulated trading system, it's a matter of power." Rob Davies, the trade minister of the current bloc president, Africa's South, told Reuters
that China has stressed the need to fight protectionism and promote multilateral world trade.
"We are against unilateralism – we are in favor of free trade, "said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang earlier this month in response to Trump's decision to change jobs
Jim O'Neill, then president of Goldman Sachs, struggled to take shape as an organization expressing consistent positions on politics and forcing deeper trade links.
Its collective gross domestic product has more than increased sixfold, from US $ 2.7 trillion in 2000 to L & D Last year, the value of the exchanges between its members has even fallen by nearly 9% to 312 billion US dollars over the last five years, according to the Standard Bank of Johannesburg.
Analysts say the global trade turmoil could give the group a chance in the arm.
"The BRICS knew what they were not – that is, Westerners – without really knowing what they were," said Martyn Davies, Deloitte's CEO. markets and Africa. "Now with the Trump administration, suddenly there is an emerging common interest, ironically around the trade."
"SPECIAL TIMES"
Although they do not condemn the United States, BRICS leaders will strongly defend multilateralism and organizations Organization, according to a diplomat involved in writing the final declaration of the summit .
"The language of the statement will not be the standard language because we live at special times," said the diplomat. BRICS member states are also expected, according to authorities and analysts
. These efforts include strengthening the New Development Bank (NDB), the group's financial institution.
Russia said this month that she was in talks with the bank. $ 1 billion. On Monday, he approved loans totaling $ 600 million for energy and transportation projects in South Africa and China.
The NDB is expected to lend $ 4 billion to BRICS members this year. And South African Deputy Foreign Minister Luwellyn Landers said this week that the bank would start lending to non-members, giving the BRICS more weight as representatives of the "Global South."
This week's summit, including 19 coming from Africa
"There is a very big space for the BRICS countries to work together … to create economic weight and mitigate negative impacts of unilateralism and trade protectionism, "said Mei Guanqun. China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a State-Supported Think Tank
As Trump's Most Affected Trade Member, China Seeks to Diversify Trade Relationships to Mitigate Outcomes . policies between BRICS members is a logical next step. But this may turn out to be a bridge too far, at least for the moment
Beijing already dominates the BRICS and is involved in 80% of trade within the bloc. Opening the door to more and cheaper Chinese imports could be considered too risky for the smaller, less industrialized members of the group.
"All those who are affected by lesser access to the US market will likely want to diversify their exports and just push everything into the backyard of everyone," said Davies of South Africa . "I do not think it would be desirable."
(Additional report by Christian Shepherd in Beijing, Anthony Boadle in Brasilia and Katya Golubkova in Moscow, Edited by Ros Russell)
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