BRICS has consistently opposed unilateral tariff measures while championing WTO reform. Examine the coherence of this position with the bloc's own trade practices.

The New Delhi Declaration of the 18th BRICS Summit (12–13 September 2026), adopted under India's Chairship, voiced serious concern over the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures and coercive measures, while seeking a reformed, rules-based multilateral trading system [1][2]. Its credibility turns on whether members' own practice matches this advocacy.

The stated position

• Opposition to unilateral tariff, non-tariff and coercive measures, carried forward from the Rio de Janeiro Declaration [1].
• Reform of the WTO, IMF and World Bank to be more representative and accountable, and restoration of a binding two-tier dispute settlement — the Appellate Body has had no members since the last term expired in November 2020, as appointments remain blocked [3].
• Support for Ethiopia and Iran's WTO accession, plus MSME internationalisation through the SME Working Group and the inaugural BRICS SME Forum, Agra [1][2].

Where the position is coherent

• BRICS seeks to strengthen the WTO, not exit it — backing new accessions and dispute-settlement revival is institutionally consistent [1][3].
• The MSME–global value chain agenda logically requires open, predictable markets; local-currency trade eases payment friction rather than erecting barriers [1].
• Members submit to peer review: India's eighth WTO Trade Policy Review was held in July 2026 [5].

Where practice diverges

• Applied tariffs across several members remain comparatively high and complex, and duties have been raised in selected sectors to protect domestic industry.
• Heavy reliance on trade remedies — India is among the world's most frequent users of anti-dumping measures [4].
• Intra-BRICS barriers and unresolved bilateral frictions keep intra-bloc trade below potential.
• The Declaration is a consensus political document, not a treaty; it carries no enforcement machinery.

BRICS is thus coherent in principle but only partially so in applied policy — persuasive on multilateral reform, less so on its own protection. The critique of unilateralism would gain force if members lowered intra-bloc tariffs, notified non-tariff measures transparently, and converted the Agra MSME agenda into concrete market access — making BRICS a demonstrator, not merely a critic, of rules-based trade.