“The idea that the BRICS countries are trying to move away from the dollar, while we stand by and watch, is OVER,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social.
“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-per cent tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy,” the US President wrote.
The BRICS grouping members now are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The bloc has been mulling over alternatives to the US dollar for global trade.
“They can go find another sucker nation. 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!” Trump said.
His warning follows similar remarks earlier last month when he cautioned BRICS against steps that could contribute to ‘de-dollarisation’ of the global economy. He had issued another such warning in December last year.
Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar reacted to Trump’s statements by saying that India does not support replacing the US dollar but has sought ‘workarounds’ to protect its trade interests. There are no proposals now for a BRICS currency, he added.
At the 15th BRICS Summit in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasised the need for de-dollarisation, saying, “Brics countries must expand settlements in national currencies and enhance cooperation between banks.”
At a meeting in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, in June last year, BRICS foreign ministers backed “enhanced use of local currencies in bilateral and multilateral trade and financial transactions between the member countries.”
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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