President Trump vowed to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that back a new reserve currency among the BRICS countries, a group that includes Russia and China.
Trump’s Truth Social post on Thursday reiterated threats he made in late November, before returning to the White House.
“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar, while we stand by and watch, is OVER,” Trump wrote on the social platform.
“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.”
BRICS is a block of major economies that are not part of the G7. It was initially comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, but is steadily expanding to now include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.
The group reportedly initiated discussions surrounding the creation of its own currency system at an October summit in Kazan, Russia. However, the Kremlin has said there are no plans for a common currency.
If that changes, Trump said the consequences would be harsh for any country involved.
“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,” Trump said Friday.
The president has also doubled down on threats to impose tariffs on neighboring nations including Canada and Mexico by Saturday, and last weekend he threatened Colombia with steep tariffs for not accepting deportees sent back to the South American country on U.S. military flights.
