Despite the exercise of BRICS balancing act, President Donald Trump threatened "extra 10% tariff over ‘anti-American’ BRICS policies". And, last week, he threatened to impose a 50% tariff on Brazil, making references to the legal process against former President Jair Bolsonaro for a planned coup plot, as well as to measures taken by Brazil’s Supreme Court against U.S .social media platforms. Presumably, from Mr. Trump’s perspective, pursuing lower reliance on the US dollar was enough to push Lula and the BRICS off their balancing act.