247 – Health Minister Alexandre Padilha responded on Monday (7) to statements by US President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on countries that align themselves with BRICS. The bloc began its 17th summit on Sunday (6) in Rio de Janeiro.

Padilha said there is nothing “anti-American” in the policies advocated by the group. “The BRICS countries are defending life, health, and science. I don’t see anything anti-American in that,” he said.

In a critical tone, the minister recalled that the Trump government cut university resources, discontinued vaccine production contracts and harmed important research, including that related to messenger RNA technology.

“Health and life are important to BRICS, and the bloc will invest in this,” concluded Padilha.

The US president's threat came after BRICS leaders released a joint statement on Sunday warning of the risks that increased tariffs pose to global trade — an indirect criticism of Trump's tariff policies.