S. African trade minister opens BRICS summit, says world trading system in crisis

South Africa’s trade minister on Wednesday opened a summit of the BRICS emerging economies, warning that the world’s trading system is enduring “enormous turbulence,” AP reported. Rob Davies referred to economic worries related to US tariffs on goods from major trading partners and retaliatory action from them. Davies called it “a moment of crisis for the global multilateral trading system.” BRICS leaders from Russia, China, India, and South Africa plan to meet at the three-day summit in Johannesburg. Ahead of the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Uganda, where he pledged to deepen India’s engagement with Africa.