“Any country aligning itself with the anti-American policies of BRICS will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—the five original member countries of the bloc of major emerging economies. The coalition has expanded to 11 members with the addition of six new countries over the past two years: Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

(Saudi Arabia was invited to join BRICS in 2023 and is listed as a member on the BRICS website, but reportedly has not yet become a full member, although Riyadh does participate in the bloc’s activities.)

There are also 10 BRICS partner countries: Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The bloc criticized the joint Israeli-American campaign against the Islamic Republic in a statement published a day after the June 23 U.S. strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites, expressing deep concern over the attacks and condemning them as violations of international law and the United Nations Charter.

“We express grave concern over the military strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran since 13 June 2025, which constitute a violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and the subsequent escalation of the security situation in the Middle East,” the BRICS nations said in a statement.

“In the face of rising tensions with unpredictable consequences for international peace and security, as well as for the world economy, we underscore the urgent need to break the cycle of violence and restore peace. We call on all parties to engage through existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy, with a view to de-escalating the situation and resolving their differences through peaceful means,” the statement added.

While Jerusalem and Washington justified the operation based on evidence that the regime in Tehran was covertly racing to develop nuclear weapons, including uranium enrichment far exceeding civilian requirements, the BRICS statement referred to the Iranian sites as “peaceful nuclear installations.” Iran has publicly called for the annihilation of Israel and has been engaged in direct conflict with the Jewish state via its regional terror proxies. Israel recently revealed plans by the Iranian regime to destroy the Jewish state in a surprise multi-front invasion.

The Trump administration has also threatened to increase tariffs up to 50% on August 1 if countries do not reach new trade deals with the U.S. by then. In April, Trump announced a 10% base tariff on most countries, with additional duties reaching up to 50%, but delayed the start date for all tariffs above 10% until July 9.

Trump stated on Sunday that the U.S. would start sending official notifications to many trade partners at noon Monday, alerting them to higher tariff rates that could soon apply.

At a BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, member nations voiced “serious concerns” about unilateral trade tariffs in a draft statement, without specifically mentioning the United States or Trump’s protectionist policies. The leaders said the measures were in direct violation of World Trade Organization rules and risked negatively impacting the global economy.

Trump is also implementing a “maximum pressure” sanctions strategy against the Iranian regime, focusing on restricting its oil exports, financial operations and organizations tied to its nuclear and missile programs. Recent actions have further tightened penalties on Iranian oil smuggling and related entities.