Washington, Sep 9
Sourabh Gupta, Senior Fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies (ICAS), countered White House Advisor Peter Navarro’s latest tirade against the BRICS group, calling his statements “wrong on so many points in his single sentence.”
“If he feels they suck like vampires with their trade practices, he is welcome to bring cases against them at the WTO. Of course, he knows that the US will lose all these cases,” he said.
Gupta added that BRICS nations can survive easily without selling to the US. “The trade to GDP ratio, including the ratio of exports to the US, is generally lower for most BRICS countries compared to their middle-income peers. They are mostly less trade-dependent and will survive far more easily without selling to the US.”
White House Senior Advisor Peter Navarro on Monday targeted the BRICS bloc, asserting that “none of these nations can survive if they don’t sell it to the United States.”
He even compared the group to “vampires” and raised doubts over the group’s viability.
“When they sell to the United States their exports, they are like vampires, sucking our blood dry with their unfair trade practices. I don't see how the BRICS alliance stays together since historically they all hate each other and kill each other,” he told Trump’s former aide Steve Bannon in an interview.
Leaders of the BRICS, a grouping of 10 nations, including India, China, Russia and Brazil, met virtually on Monday, with members calling for unity in the face of rising unilateralism and advocating reform of international economic institutions.
Representing India on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar called trade patterns and market access "prominent issues" in the global economic discourse while stressing that the world requires constructive and cooperative approaches to promote sustainable trade.
He also proposed that “the BRICS itself can set an example by reviewing trade flows among its member states.”
Last week, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that India should “stop being a part of BRICS” in an interview with Bloomberg.
Trump himself has targeted the BRICS multiple times since his return to the White House. In July, he warned of 10% extra tariffs for countries that align themselves with BRICS.
“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 on July 7.
Gupta of ICAS emphasised that Navarro’s statement is in line with Trump’s views on the grouping.
“Navarro is working off Trump's disdain for BRICS to amplify the view in propagandist tones. He is the most rabid evangelist of the trade dimension of the MAGA movement. His views on trade dovetail almost 100% with the president's views. He is veritably the president's 'mini-me' on trade policy,” he added.
On the global positioning of BRICS, Gupta asserted that it is not a formal alliance.
“BRICS is not an alliance; was never intended to be one and will never be one. Their joining the BRICS is a general political statement of non-confidence in American institutional economic leadership,” he noted.
