Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on BRICS Over Dollar Dependency

As Friday deadline passes and the nations which belong to the group - consisting of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India - were known to try ways to distance from the use of the US dollar, the erstwhile US president Donald Trump told the press after meeting at his Oval Office today that there were going to face 100 % tariffs in America if these economies continued efforts into reducing dependency over the American dollars.

As explained by Trump, "If they even think about moving forward with what they've been considering, they'll face 100% tariffs. They'll stop immediately." According to him, these were not his words to intimidate, but as a stern commitment.

The comments by former US President Joe Biden had also attracted attention of the POTUS as the latter indicated the US may not be on good grounds on the matter. Trump strongly disagreed, saying that the US has considerable leverage over the BRICS nations. "If the BRICS countries want to move ahead with their plans, that's fine. But we're going to impose at least a 100% tariff on all their business with the US. This is not a threat — we have them where we want them, and they won't be able to follow through with their plans."

Before assuming his position as the 47th President, Donald Trump had alerted BRICS of steep tariffs imposed on them, in case they attempted to manufacture a new currency to rival that of the dollar. BRICS has been working for a long time to reduce the global trade and financial dominance of the dollar, discussions on creating an alternative currency and replacing it already in place.

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged BRICS nations at the 15th BRICS Summit in 2023 to de-dollarize, urging countries to increase their use of national currencies in bilateral trade and further strengthen cooperation among banks. Foreign ministers of the BRICS bloc met in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, later in 2024 to continue efforts at using local currencies for bilateral and multilateral transactions between members of the group.