Overview

• President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping were absent from the July 6–7 Rio de Janeiro summit, highlighting shifts in leadership participation.
• Delegates reaffirmed ambitions to expand BRICS membership but agreed to tougher admission rules, with Brazil blocking Venezuela’s bid.
• The bloc endorsed new currency-swap pacts and plans for wider local-currency trade to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.
• President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports and threatened 10% duties on any nation supporting BRICS’ anti-U.S. policies.
• Geopolitical tensions—especially between China and India—and weak institutional cohesion now threaten to stall the group’s agreed initiatives.