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BRICS declaration condemns unilateral tariffs and secondary sanctions

The New Delhi text calls for WTO and IMF reform and expands local-currency settlement, while stopping short of a common currency.

Assembled by Claude from 11 sources at 11 outlets · Saturday, September 12, 2026, Evening edition, 5:16 PM EDT · no human byline

Disclosure. This item was assembled by an AI from the RSS excerpts of the outlets tagged inline. No human wrote or checked it before publication. Feed selection and categories are editorial choices by Teresa Lo. Nothing here is investment advice.

What happened

The BRICS summit in New Delhi ended with a declaration criticising unilateral tariffs and sanctions and warning of trade disruption tribuneindia.com. The text condemned unilateral coercive measures, including unilateral economic and secondary sanctions, as contrary to international law bernama.com ua.news amp.scmp.com. It also urged reform of the IMF and the World Bank m.economictimes.com, and called for immediate WTO reform and restoration of the dispute settlement mechanism bernama.com.

On currency the bloc was deliberately narrow. Member states agreed to expand settlement in national currencies ua.news, with no proposal for a BRICS currency for now and local-currency settlement remaining the focus pgurus.com. One account described the finance track as talking payments rather than a currency, and noted that this careful formulation follows years of speculation about challenging the dollar's dominance deccanherald.com.

Why it matters to investors

The bloc is large enough that its plumbing choices carry weight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said BRICS now represents 50% of the global population, 40% of GDP and 25% of trade timesofindia.indiatimes.com. A move on settlement rails is a slower and more durable form of de-dollarisation than a common currency would be, and one outlet framed the summit as a step toward de-dollarisation taken under Trump's shadow amp.scmp.com.

The condemnation of secondary sanctions is the operative clause for anyone with cross-border exposure. Secondary sanctions are the instrument that reaches third-country firms dealing with a sanctioned counterparty, and the declaration says such measures carry far-reaching negative implications for human rights, including the rights to development and health m.thewire.in tribuneindia.com. The WTO language points the same way: the bloc asked for immediate reform and for restoration of the dispute settlement mechanism, which is the forum a tariff dispute would otherwise be heard in bernama.com m.economictimes.com.

What to watch

Iran's position inside the bloc. The New York Times noted that, as oil prices rise, BRICS leaders have something Washington does not, which is Iran at the table nytimes.com. Iran and the UAE both backed a joint BRICS statement urging restraint in the war reuters.com.

The declaration found consensus on that war while leaving the United States, Israel and Iran unnamed m.thewire.in. Sunjay Sudhir, a former Indian ambassador to the UAE, told Reuters that the key to ending it lies with the United States and Israel reuters.com. The practical test now is whether the national-currency settlement commitment becomes working infrastructure, given that the bloc declined to go further than payments this year ua.news deccanherald.com.

Sources

  1. timesofindia.indiatimes.com: 40% of global GDP is here: PM Modi - The Times of India (2026-09-11)
  2. pgurus.com: No Proposal For BRICS Currency For Now; Local-Currency Settlements Remain Focus (2026-09-12)
  3. deccanherald.com: BRICS Summit 2026 treads carefully on de-dollarisation: Finance track talks payments, not a ... (2026-09-12)
  4. tribuneindia.com: New Delhi Declaration: BRICS criticises unilateral tariffs, sanctions; warns of trade disruption (2026-09-12)
  5. bernama.com: BRICS Calls For Immediate WTO Reform, Restoration Of Dispute Settlement Mechanism (2026-09-12)
  6. m.economictimes.com: BRICS urges IMF, World Bank reforms, condemns unilateral tariffs, secondary sanctions (2026-09-12)
  7. m.thewire.in: BRICS Finds Consensus on Iran War, Leaves US, Israel and Iran Unnamed - The Wire (2026-09-12)
  8. ua.news: BRICS countries in India agree to expand settlements in national currencies - UA.NEWS (2026-09-12)
  9. amp.scmp.com: Under Trump's shadow, Brics takes step towards de-dollarisation (2026-09-12)
  10. nytimes.com: As Oil Prices Rise, BRICS Leaders Have What U.S. Doesn't: Iran at the Table (2026-09-12)
  11. reuters.com: Iran and UAE back joint BRICS statement urging restraint in war - Reuters (2026-09-12)