SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that more trade and financial integration between the BRICS group of developing nations would help mitigate the effects of protectionism.

“Tariff blackmail is being normalized as a tool for conquering markets and interfering in domestic issues,” Lula said in the government’s published remarks of a virtual meeting of BRICS leaders, without directly citing the United States.

BRICS members Brazil and India are among the countries hardest-hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, while new sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine are expected.

Lula had told Reuters in an interview last month he would raise the issue of Trump’s tariffs with BRICS.

The 50% levies on most Brazilian exports are linked

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