Editorial | Brics is looking for resilience, not an open clash with the US

It would be a mistake to discount Brics summits, where the aim is long-term strength amid global instability and geopolitical tensions

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Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses a virtual Brics Summit on September 8. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:15am, 10 Sep 2025

The Brics emergency summit at which Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech was convened by Brazil to coordinate resistance to growing pressures from US President Donald Trump’s trade war. It did not turn into a forum for an open clash with the United States, as anticipated by some. But it would be a mistake to discount the importance of such meetings to a growing trading bloc in consolidating long-term resilience.

Xi set the tone for the virtual summit, as he did at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting. He called for a unified response to the trade challenges posed by the US, emphasising the need to build an open global economy and resist all forms of protectionism “no matter how the international situation changes” and “achieve win-win outcomes through openness”. Hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism were on the rise in the world, Xi said, in a veiled criticism of the US.

Brics heavyweights India and Brazil appeared reluctant to antagonise the US, relations with which remain important to their economies. This prompted observations that the meeting was not a success. Yet Brics members still needed to talk about how to coordinate their actions.

India is maintaining an ambiguous position in the hope of mending strained ties with the US. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped the online summit, sending Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who took a subtle swipe at Washington’s tariff tactics. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sharpened his call for unity within Brics to counter US-led unilateralism.

According to data from the International Monetary Fund, Brics nations accounted for 40 per cent of the global economy (measured by purchasing power parity) last year. Brics members are realising they need to increase their resilience and build infrastructure for global multilateral trade that won’t depend so heavily on the US-dominated structure. Given that progress will take years, an aggressive approach is not to be expected now. Some members, understandably, still want to close deals with Washington.

With a growing share of the global economy and trade between them rising, Brics nations have a big enough economy among themselves to build resilience to trade and tariff wars. The Brics summit is not to be underestimated when the goal is to build long-term resilience amid global instability and geopolitical tensions.

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