BRICS, a group of developing countries that are emerging economically on the global stage, has criticized the US move to unilaterally increase tariffs and block imports. The 17th BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday issued a manifesto criticizing the US.

The conference concluded that the military attack on Iran was a "violation of international law". Similarly, BRICS has also condemned Israel's attack on Gaza. BRICS remained silent about Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine. 

The two-day summit was concluded on Sunday in the absence of the presidents of Russia and China, the founders and powerful countries of BRICS. Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the BRICS summit for the first time since becoming president in 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the conference in protest after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for his war with Ukraine. In the conference, China was represented by the Prime Minister and Russia was represented by the Foreign Minister. 

At a time when global trade has become unstable due to US policies, BRICS has criticized US President Donald Trump's aggressive economic policy. In response, Trump has warned countries that support the BRICS policy to impose 10 percent additional customs duties.

Within a few hours of the announcement of BRICS, through the social network Truth, Trump targeted the BRICS countries that support the 'anti-American policy' and said, 'Any country that joins the anti-American policy of BRICS will be charged an additional 10 percent customs duty, and no one will be exempted.' All the BRICS countries are also trying to improve trade with the US. They do not want to openly oppose the US President's actions. After Trump's warning, South Africa has clarified that it is not anti-American. 

Iran has received sympathy from BRICS. Iran is a new member of BRICS. International affairs experts have analyzed that Iran has succeeded to some extent in using the BRICS forum in its favor. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian delegation at the conference.

The US has not only imposed various sanctions on Iran regarding the nuclear program, but also carried out air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. Similarly, after the attack on Ukraine, many countries including America and Europe have imposed various sanctions on Russia. Although all the member countries of BRICS, the forum of countries representing more than half of the world's population, did not criticize the US openly, the conference criticized the US for the attack on Iran. 

BRICS has been seen as a competitive alliance of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization 'NATO'. Although NATO is a military alliance. BRICS aims to cooperate on economic and geopolitical issues. Established in 2009, BRICS has adopted a policy of promoting economic, political and social cooperation. China and Russia are trying to advance this forum to reduce US influence globally.

They are also trying to find an alternative to the dollar for international trade. Looking at that, the group of BRICS has been expanded to 11 members. Brazil, Russia, India and China are the founding members of BRICS, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have also been added. Countries like Brazil and India are not in favor of allowing BRICS to be established as an anti-Western organization. The US is a major trading partner for Brazil. On the other hand, India has close ties with the US. BRICS has been facing internal divisions due to various power struggles and mutual conflicts among the member states.