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Trade is a major focus of the New Delhi Declaration, with 17 paragraphs addressing tariffs, sanctions, WTO reform, supply chains and intra-BRICS commerce. Although the declaration avoids naming countries, its targets are often clear. GTRI identifies the countries and policies behind these carefully worded criticisms.

The declaration supports a rules-based multilateral trading system and calls for the restoration of the WTO’s two-tier dispute-settlement mechanism [paragraph 20]. This appears to be aimed at the United States. Its unilateral tariffs have violated WTO rules, while its refusal to approve new Appellate Body members has paralysed the WTO’s appeals system. The Appellate Body has been unable to hear new appeals since December 2019 because the United States blocked the appointment of new members.

It also expresses concern over WTO-inconsistent trade restrictions, including indiscriminate tariff increases and “protectionism under the guise of environmental objectives” [paragraph 21]. The first reference appears to target recent US tariffs, while the second points to the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM, which adds a........

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