BRICS a stronger bloc for defending free trade

Judging by the statements of its member states and the theme of the ongoing 10th BRICS summit, "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution", the five-nation bloc affirms, through concrete actions, its commitment to support multilateralism and the democratization of the international trading system in the face of US trade protectionism and unilateralism.

The tariff war ignited by the United States could evolve into a full-blown trade war and stunt global economic growth, causing greater difficulties in developing countries. In addition, it is weakening the World Trade Organization, and questioning the effectiveness and legitimacy of the organization.

Unilateral trade measures that cause widespread damage to a number of countries may not only lose their "protective" character for the domestic market and jobs, but also, and more importantly, become an "act of aggression" against the markets and jobs in other countries. The WTO was created precisely to be the institutional-normative framework of reference for all member countries in determining their action limits in global trade, in order to promote "competition", not a commercial "war", between them.