BRICS Opposes Unilateral Tariffs; Defends WTO Architecture

Gist BRICS nations have firmly opposed the rising trend of unilateral trade restrictions, environmental protectionism, and economic sanctions led by Western economies. Through a joint declaration, the bloc pushed back against measures like the European Union's carbon tax and the United States' unilateral tariffs, while advocating for an inclusive, consensus-based World Trade Organisation WTO . For a civil services aspirant, this development highlights the intensifying global divide between developed and developing nations over global trade architecture, climate compliance mechanisms, and the future of multilateral institutions. Background The World Trade Organisation WTO governs global trade through core pillars like Most-Favoured-Nation MFN preventing discrimination among trading partners and Special and Differential Treatment S&DT providing developing nations and Least Developed Countries longer transition periods and flexibilities to implement trade rules . Historically, the WTO operates on a consensus-based decision-making model. However, developed nations, led by the US , have increasingly bypassed this by imposing unilateral tariffs and pushing for "plurilateral" agreements agreements binding only a subset of willing members . Concurrently, the European Union EU has begun imposing carbon tariffs on imports, which…