00:00The Ranking Member, the Gentlewoman from New Jersey, Mrs. McIver, for five minutes.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Lazarus, thank you once again for joining us today.
00:09In your testimony, you discussed how China will be hosting a summit with Latin America
00:15and Caribbean states next week. China and Cuba also both belong to the BRICS group,
00:21along with Brazil, Russia, India, and a total of 23 countries. BRICS has become a serious political
00:28force, as the nations belonging to BRICS now account for almost 30% of the world's GDP,
00:3640% of the oil production, and almost half the world's population. We have seen what Trump's
00:42repeated tariff threats are doing to the economy, both at home and globally, while eroding trust in
00:48the U.S. dollar. Trump's foreign policies are only making groups like the BRICS more powerful,
00:54as our geopolitical rivals work to fill the void that President Trump has created with this
01:00America Last policies. Mr. Lazarus, as America recedes from the world stage, how are BRICS and
01:07other multinational groups exerting power and influence? Well, Ranking Member, thank you so much
01:14for the question. You're absolutely right. I mean, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa,
01:19when taken together, they represent more than 30% of global GDP. And they've really been using this
01:27multilateral institution in order to create alternative financial institutions to the Western
01:33built ones built right after World War II. So you think the New Development Bank or the BRICS Bank
01:39that could fund various projects in the developing world. There's talk about them creating a BRICS currency
01:46that could mean that they can settle trade accounts not using the U.S. dollar, which could
01:52potentially weaken the U.S. dollar's dominance in the globe. But it goes to a larger narrative that
02:00the Chinese and our other adversaries try to use in the global south, which is that the United States
02:06doesn't necessarily care about the global south. All they care about is realist ideology, especially in
02:15this region in Latin America and the Caribbean. There is this narrative that the Chinese try to say,
02:21which is that the United States only wants to impose the Monroe Doctrine 2.0. And I am concerned that
02:29certain things, certain policies could really allow the Chinese to continue to spread that narrative
02:39in Latin America and the Caribbean.
02:42Thank you for that. Just a follow-up.
02:45In your opinion, do you think China ultimately stands to benefit from Nepal's and foreign aid underneath the Trump administration?
02:52Well, we're seeing already on a global scale that China has already stepped up its foreign aid in countries like Cambodia, Nepal.
03:03As I mentioned, next week, they're going to be hosting the fourth ministerial of the China SEALAC summit.
03:11And I expect that after that summit, there's going to be a joint action plan between China and SEALAC on China increasing exports of renewable energy and electric vehicles and solar panels.
03:26And again, it's another way for China to project itself as a reliable partner at a time where other countries are perceiving potentially the U.S. is tariffing other countries.
03:41And it's also a way for China to project itself as the defender of globalization and free trade going forward. That is a concern.
03:50Thank you so much, Mr. Lazarus. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
03:56The gentleman yields. I now recognize the gentleman from Arizona.
