CGTN Europe interviewed Jorge Heine, former Chilean government minister, and Ambassador to China
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00:00And for more on this, we can talk now to Jorge Haini, a former Chilean minister, also served as the country's ambassador to China.
00:07Mr. Ambassador, welcome back to the program. Good to see you again. Thank you for your time today.
00:11Very busy meeting. We were just listening to Palo, our correspondent, explaining just how much is going on there.
00:17How critical is the meeting at this time, considering the state of the global economy?
00:22I think it is absolutely critical. This is the first such meeting to take place after the United States imposed tariffs on April the 2nd.
00:33So for the BRICS group to discuss what this means and perhaps try to coordinate some response to what this entails is highly significant.
00:48Let me underscore the following. Brazil has become a true diplomatic hub.
00:54Last year, it chaired, of course, the G20. And this year it is chairing the BRICS. It is chairing COP30.
01:03So Brazilian diplomacy has its work cut out for it. And we'll see what comes out of this very significant foreign minister's meeting.
01:11Well, indeed. And how have President Trump's trade policies, these tariffs, specifically impacted the BRICS countries so far?
01:21Well, it is difficult to say these things take some time to have an effect.
01:26But I will say this. It struck me as quite remarkable that China, for example, has already returned several Boeing passenger jets that were being, you know, getting ready in China for use.
01:41And they've now been returned to the United States. So there's something quite concrete that reflects this.
01:48And I also understand that, as was said earlier by Paulo Cabral, the demand for soybeans from Brazil, from China, is increasing considerably as they will replace the soybeans that are usually imported from the United States.
02:06And I also understand that there are some negotiations between India and the U.S. to reach some sort of agreement that will mitigate these tariffs.
02:18So also sorts of things are happening. But it is early days, obviously.
02:22Absolutely. But it is certainly interesting, that point about returning the Boeing jets.
02:26And we were listening to Paulo talking about this idea of a common currency, more use of the Chinese currency, perhaps, in that block.
02:34I mean, what kind of clout does the BRICS group have now, especially that it's expanded so much, to mitigate the impact of these trade restrictions?
02:45And, you know, how could the fact that it is bigger now, there are more members, how could that affect the way that this meeting might go?
02:52Yes. Well, the key point here is obviously to liaise and look for ways they can work together.
03:00To face this very serious situation.
03:05I would think something very specific and very concrete that could take place is for the members to agree on reinvigorating, reviving the World Trade Organization.
03:19That has been basically horrible over the past few years, without any movement towards, you know, around liberalized international trade and with its appellate body, essentially dead in the water.
03:34I would think that if the BRICS countries and obviously other countries around the world could agree to move forward on getting a new impetus on the World Trade Organization, that would be very important.
03:44Really valuable to get your input today, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
03:50Jorge Haini, the former Chilean minister and former ambassador from Chile to China.