Jakarta. Indonesia has slammed tariffs at the two-day BRICS gathering in India, although Jakarta did not explicitly say whether it was talking about US President Donald Trump’s import tax hikes.

Foreign ministers of BRICS -- whose members include US rival China and tariff-struck India -- are gathering in New Delhi. Although the Iran war cast a cloud over the meeting, several members made indirect references to Trump’s tariff salvo. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono, too, admitted Jakarta’s concerns over the trade barriers.

“Our multilateral trading system is increasingly undermined by unilateral protectionist measures and disproportionate use of tariffs, which disrupts global supply chains and constrains inclusive growth,” Sugiono said on Thursday local time, as seen in a transcript shared by the ministry the next day.

He pointed out BRICS’ key role in safeguarding a “fair, open, and non-discriminatory trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core”. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had made a similar comment at the start of the meeting, as New Delhi fell victim to sweeping US tariffs.

“We must address the increasing resort to unilateral coercive measures and sanctions inconsistent with international law and the UN Charter,” Jaishankar told the conference.

“Such measures disproportionately affect developing countries. These unjustifiable measures cannot substitute dialogue, nor can pressure replace diplomacy.”

Since last year, countries around the world have grappled with Trump’s tariff regime, which he introduced to shrink Washington’s deficit. New Delhi has faced punitive tariffs, which Trump rolled out over its continued Russian oil purchases. 

Earlier this year, a Supreme Court ruling had rendered Trump’s reciprocal tariffs illegal -- a decision made less than 24 hours after Indonesia sealed a trade deal with the US. Washington had agreed to lower the originally intended 32% import tax to 19% after locking Jakarta into heaps of concessions.

Trump later introduced a 10% across-the-board tariff, which would expire in July, unless extended by Congress. However, a panel of judges at the US Court of International Trade recently ruled the global tariff unlawful. A US federal appeals court later paused the ruling to give the White House time to respond.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to slap tariffs on BRICS economies.

BRICS is often seen as a counterbalance to Western dominance. The group originally brought together Brazil, Russia, India, China, and eventually South Africa, hence the acronym. The club later expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran,  the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.

Add as a preferred source on Google +