US President Donald Trump threatened BRICS member states with 100% tariffs on Thursday to dissuade them from replacing the US dollar as reserve currency.
Trump had made a similar statement right after winning the November 2024 elections.
“We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs,” he said on his Truth social media platform.
“There is no chance that BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade, or anywhere else, and any country that tries should say hello to tariffs, and goodbye to America!” he added.
BRICS and the US dollar
The BRICS group consists primarily of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In the last few years, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia have also joined the group, bringing the number of members to eleven.
It was formed in 2009 as a counter to dominance by the US and western allies.
BRICS represents nearly half of the world’s population and is considered as a counterpart to the G7 group of countries.
The economic bloc has been in talks about introducing another reserve currency, but the idea took momentum especially after the West imposed sanctions on Russia due to its war in Ukraine.
The power of the US dollar in the world has strengthened recently. It remains the world’s primary reserve currency and there is a huge worldwide reliance on it.
Trump threatens tariffs for Canada, Mexico
Meanwhile, Trump said that 25% tariffs would be imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico from Saturday, but he’s still considering whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes.
“We may or may not,” he told reporters at the Oval Office on Thursday.
His decision is supposed to be based on whether oil prices charged by Washington two North American trade partners is fair.
However, his decision is also influenced by his bid to stop illegal immigration and the smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl. The drug and other synthetic opioids have caused tens of thousands of deaths in the US alone.
tg/zc (AP, Reuters)
