U.S. tariffs wear the cloak of financial policy to address trade imbalances, but they mask deeper geopolitical ambitions. That strategy may backfire. The pressure of U.S. tariffs is firming up the multipolar world it is meant to prevent.

Pressure from sanctions has already fused Iran even tighter with Russia and Saudi Arabia. It is now, stunningly, contributing to the birth of relations with Egypt, a Middle Eastern power with whom Iran has had broken relations since 1979.

In 2024, Iran and Egypt both became members of BRICS, a large and growing international organization whose primary purpose is to balance U.S. hegemony in the new multipolar world.

In June, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo. Araghchi posted that “After many years, diplomacy between Iran and Egypt has entered a new phase. The level of political interaction and cooperation, and more importantly, the level of trust and confidence in relations between the two countries, is unprecedented.” Abdelatty said, “There is a mutual desire to develop our relations, taking into account the concerns and perspectives of each side.”

The meetings produced a region shifting agreement “to launch periodic consultations at the sub-ministerial level to address aspects of bilateral cooperation.”

U.S. foreign policy is also pushing other nations toward BRICS. On July 27, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “[Nicolás] Maduro is not the President of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government…Maduro is the leader of the designated narco-terrorist organization Cartel de Los Soles.”

Miguel Tinker Salas, professor of Latin American History at Pomona College and one of the world’s leading experts on Venezuelan history and politics, told me that Venezuela is “very much interested in joining BRICS.”

The realization of that interest has been frustrated so far, Salas says, by “some tensions with Brazil over Venezuela’s admission in the wake of the past presidential election.” Russia has supported Venezuelan membership. Venezuela is lobbying hard to join BRICS, and in January, Maduro expressed optimism about joining, saying “As far as BRICS is concerned, I hope that the way will be cleared and that the reality will be recognized – Venezuela is part of BRICS.”

Venezuela has increased ties with BRICS nations. Russia says “the Russian-Venezuelan strategic partnership is developing in a wide range of areas.” Venezuela is also “actively building a political dialogue with India” and “actively cooperating with Iran.” China is the largest exporter to Venezuela.

Most of the biggest nations in BRICS are facing pressure from U.S. sanctions and tariffs. On July 30, the United States slammed Brazil with 50% tariffs on all exports. The move revealed that President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy is not all about trade imbalances. Last year, the U.S. had a $7.4 billion trade surplus with Brazil. Washington claimed the tariffs were meant to pressure Brazil to drop charges against former president Jair Bolsonaro who faces charges for his involvement in an alleged conspiracy to subvert the 2022 Brazilian elections.

Brazil criticized the interference in its domestic affairs and the violation of its sovereignty and took its case to the World Trade Organization. Brazilian President Lula da Silva reminded the U.S. that “Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not accept any form of tutelage.” He said, “The political motivation behind the measures against Brazil violates national sovereignty” and warned against “threats that could compromise the independence of national institutions.”

But the U.S. tariffs are not just about Bolsonaro or interfering in Brazil’s domestic affairs either. Politico reports that it was Trump’s anger at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro that led him to hit Brazil with the massive tariffs. “BRICS tipped the scale,” said Mauricio Claver-Carone, a close ally of Secretary of State Rubio and Trump’s former special envoy to Latin America.

But if the tariffs were meant to weaken BRICS, it seems to be having the opposite effect, with Brazil saying American pressure will strengthen the organization’s agenda, pushing them, and others, away from U.S. dependence and towards the multipolar world represented by BRICS. American threats and unreliability as a trade partner have further cemented Brazil’s view that the economic partnerships with other BRICS+ countries need to be further fostered. As Al Jazeera and others have reported, “This dispute only strengthens the case for accelerating such integration.”

And Brazil is not alone. The United States is using tariffs to try to force India to choose sides, something the country, who is committed to multipolarity, is not likely to do. In the new multipolar world, nations do not have to choose between sides or line up consistently behind American hegemony. As India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar explains, in a multipolar world, countries can deal “with contesting parties at the same time with optimal results” for their “own self-interest.”

The U.S. has placed 25% tariffs on India’s exports to the United States. But it does not stop there. India will be hit with an additional 100% tariff if they refuse to stop purchasing Russian oil. Russia is the top supplier of oil to India, accounting for 35% of its imports, and that amount is increasing.

Rubio made the need to choose sides clear when he said that India “buys its oil from Russia…And that—unfortunately that is helping to sustain the Russian war effort. So it is most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship with India.” Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, said that Trump has said very clearly “that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia.”

Despite the pressure to fall back in line with U.S. hegemony, India has made it clear that they will continue to purchase oil from Russia. India’s foreign ministry says, “The government is committed to prioritizing the welfare of Indian consumers. Our energy purchases will be based on price, availability and market conditions.” Tellingly, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has a “steady and time-tested partnership” with Russia.

Like India, China is also being threatened with 100% tariffs on exports to the United States if they continue to buy Russian oil. And like their BRICS partners in India and Brazil, China is refusing America’s attempts to enforce its hegemony. China has responded that it is a sovereign nation and that it will purchase its oil in accord with its own internal policies. Asked about the U.S. warning and the consequence of disobeying, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Guo Jiakun replied, “China will take energy supply measures that are right for China based on our national interests. Tariff wars have no winners. Coercion and pressuring cannot solve problems. China will firmly safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests.”

BRICS has long said that they oppose alliances and blocs and that they are against no one. But hostile U.S. pressure against many countries is building BRICS. American attempts to maintain its hegemony through the weaponization of the economy may be having the opposite effect, exerting pressure that is fusing the multipolar world more firmly together.