Indonesia joins BRICS as 'ASEAN's biggest economy'

Indonesia, one of ASEAN's largest economies, has joined the BRICS, which is called a coalition of emerging economies led by China and Russia.

"Indonesia is officially joining the BRICS as a full BRICS member," Brazil, the BRICS chairman, said this year. "We expect it to contribute to deepening global South cooperation with emerging and developing countries in the southern hemisphere."

This brings the total number of BRICS members to 10 - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

In the future, there are observations that China and Russia may use BRICS as a focal point to counter the implementation of the second Trump administration's U.S.-first policy in the global trade war.

Recently, Trump criticized BRICS countries for "trying to get out of the dollar" and threatened to impose 100% tariffs if BRICS challenges dollar hegemony.