ASEAN Sobers Trump: Deals with BRICS Nations in Fastlane

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Trump met Brazil’s Lula to signal a thaw in relations marred with the indictment of Bolsonaro while deal with China advanced.

By TRH Foreign Affairs Desk

New Delhi, October 27, 2025 — Going viral with his dance steps in response to the traditional Malaysian welcome, US President Dondald Trump’s return to block summit after a gap of eight years seems sobering his tariff tyranny. Clinching an understanding with China for a trade deal, Trump after meeting his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva blessed a deal in the making with the South American nation.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi staying away from the Malaysian capital, Trump had no chance catching up with his Indian friend. Yet reports said that the India-US trade deal is being inked with legal finesse. China, Brazil, and India are three key member nations of BRICS. Trump had singled out BRICS with claims that the group is pushing de-dollarization.

With China, the US has gained the concession that Beijing’s licensing decree on exports of critical minerals will stay in abeyance for a year. The US-China trade negotiations also left open a scope for uncertainty by agreeing that the outcome will depend on domestic political decisions. China has shown that critical minerals are key to Beijing’s economic leverage in global geopolitics.

Trump met Lula on the sidelines of the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit in Kuala Lumpur. In a move widely seen political, Trump had slapped 50 percent tariffs on Brazil despite the US enjoying surplus in trade with the South American nations. The US had followed up the tariff measures by also sanctioning judges of the Brazilian Supreme Court who had indicted Trump’s friend and former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro.

“We agreed that our teams will meet immediately to advance the search for solutions to the tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian authorities,” the Brazilian President wrote on X after meeting Trump.

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