“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post. He did not elaborate, nor did he say what BRICS policies he was referring to.

President Donald Trump may have expected a Russian shudder of fear to greet his threat of “very severe tariffs” on the country if it didn’t agree a ceasefire in Ukraine.