Trump threatens ‘100% tariffs’ against BRICS countries over de-dollarisation
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to slap the BRICS group of countries with steep trade tariffs if they attempted to create their own currency and move away from the dollar.
Trump said he was going to require a commitment from the bloc that it will neither create a new BRICS currency nor back any other currency to replace the dollar, or they would “face 100% tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy.”
“There is no chance that BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, or anywhere else, and any Country that tries should say hello to Tariffs, and goodbye to America!” Trump said in a post on his social media site Truth Social.
The BRICS bloc, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia, has repeatedly signaled its intent to leverage its trading power and create its own currency as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.
Such a currency- while long touted- has never been implemented. The prospect has also faced heavy scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers.
Trump has also repeatedly warned against BRICS countries from undermining the dollar.
Trump has used tariff threats as a key tool to achieve his economic and political agenda, and is set to impose 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico from Saturday.
