Washington: A livid Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose 100% tariffs on “hostile” BRICS nations if they try to create a new currency or support any other currency that is aimed at replacing the US Dollar and that they can go find another “sucker nation” to sell into their economy.
Trump has consistently opposed de-dollarisation, cautioning that BRICS nations must uphold the US dollar’s role in global trade or risk economic repercussions.
“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar, while we stand by and watch, is OVER. 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 U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump wrote in a fiery post on his Truth Social platform.
“They can go find another sucker Nation. 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!” he added.
BRICS currency proposal and Trump’s objection
Trump’s post closely resembles the one he made on November 30, shortly after securing the 2024 presidential election victory.
The BRICS group — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — has been exploring ways to reduce its dependence on the US dollar for years. This collaboration has grown stronger since Western sanctions were imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Recently, BRICS has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
Although BRICS does not have a common currency, its members have advocated for trade in their local currencies. At the 15th BRICS Summit in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin explicitly called for de-dollarisation, urging BRICS countries to “expand settlements in national currencies and strengthen cooperation between banks.”
The movement gained further momentum at the June 2024 BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in Russia, where member nations supported the use of local currencies in both bilateral and multilateral trade.
Despite these efforts, the US dollar remains the dominant global reserve currency. A study by the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center last year found that neither the euro nor BRICS countries have been able to significantly reduce global reliance on the dollar.
