Professor Explains What to Expect from BRICS Summit in Johannesburg

With the BRICS summit getting underway in Johannesburg, the ongoing trade dispute with the US and President Trump will likely be the dominant topic. Sputnik spoke with Daniel Bradlow, Professor of International Development Law and African Economic Relations, University of Pretoria for an insight.

Sputnik: What will be the main discussion points of the BRICS summit?

Daniel Bradlow: Today it’s the business forum so it will be trade and investment and creating opportunities for business. Tomorrow when the leaders meet, they will look at how to preserve the international trading order when it’s under pressure from the US and on the brink of a potential trade war.

Hopefully they will be looking at how to strengthen the BRICS as a mechanism and to create a vaccine research centre and to develop collaborations around tourism and infrastructure projects, so hopefully this will get attention as well.

Sputnik: Could the US be persuaded to back down from its tariffs?

Daniel Bradlow: It’s always difficult to predict what President Trump will do. My instinct is that he’s not going to back down that easily and I suspect that BRICS won't have much of an impact on that directly. If there is a trade war developing, the BRICS countries will want to make sure that they’ve hedged their bets as much as possible and diversified trading relations. This could demonstrate that they are not totally linked to the global north.

The views expressed in this article are those of the speaker, and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.