President-elect Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to threaten member nations of the BRICS economic alliance with staggering 100 percent tariffs if they try to replace the U.S. dollar as the standard in international trade.
[RELATED: Canada, Mexico Bend the Knee to Trump 24 Hours After Tariff Threats…]
“We require a commitment from these 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,” said President Trump on Truth Social.
BRICS, standing for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is a multinational economic alliance that also includes Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
The alliance is considering potential ways to de-dollarize their economies, allowing them to stop relying on the U.S. dollar for international trade and potentially threatening the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.
BRICS was established in 2009 in Russia and has become increasingly relevant in recent years since the outset of the Ukraine-Russia war in February 2022.
Russia faced numerous sanctions from the United States and its allies in response to their ground invasion of Ukraine, giving it a growing incentive to de-dollarize and evade any potential trade restrictions and economic sanctions linked to their use of the dollar.
In service of de-dollarization, BRICS is considering creating a new international currency, similar to the Euro, to be used for international trade instead of the dollar.
Unlike the euro, the BRICS currency would be digital but controlled by the governments of member nations, functioning more like a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) than an independent digital currency such as Bitcoin.
[RELATED: U.S. House Passes Bill to Prevent the Creation of a CBDC…]
A CBDC allows the government in control of it an unprecedented level of control over every monetary transaction, letting them freeze transactions at will.
At an October BRICS summit in Russia, BRICS continued to work towards establishing its own currency, unveiling a concept for a potential BRICS currency banknote, though a CBDC would not have paper banknotes.
Trump demanded that BRICS nations commit to abandoning their plan to create a new international currency and vow not to back any other pre-existing currency as a replacement for the dollar as the standard in international trade.
Trump’s 100 percent tariffs could cause significant economic hardship for any nations that refuse to comply with his demands, particularly nations like China that export substantial amounts of goods to the U.S.
“They can go find another “sucker!” There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America,” said Trump.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump’s tariff threats, suggesting that the tariffs will backfire and drive even more nations away from the U.S. dollar.
“If the U.S. uses force, as they say economic force, to compel countries to use the dollar it will further strengthen the trend of switching to national currencies (in international trade),” said Peskov, “The dollar is beginning to lose its appeal as a reserve currency for a number of countries.”
China also condemned Trump’s threats, suggesting that his tariffs could “disrupt national order.”
“The U.S. has long used its dollar hegemony to shift crises, spread U.S. inflation to other parts of the world, and made it become a geopolitical tool, which damages international economic and financial stability, and disrupts international order,” said Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu speaking to Newsweek.
Throughout his 2024 campaign, and since becoming president-elect after his landslide victory, Trump has been a vocal proponent of tariffs as a tool to achieve American interests both domestically and abroad.
Just last week, Trump saw success when he threatened Canada and Mexico with blanket 25 percent tariffs unless they worked to secure their sides of the U.S. border.
“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” said Trump on Truth Social.
Both nations signaled that they would be willing to work with the Trump administration to secure the border rather than face significant tariffs.
Trump also threatened China with a 10 percent tariff, to be applied on top of any other potential tariffs, including the 100 percent tariff leveled against BRICS nations, unless they stop the flow of Chinese-made fentanyl into the U.S.
China was far less conciliatory, denying the proven accusations that Chinese fentanyl is entering the U.S., and suggesting that the 10 percent tariff could ignite a trade war.
The Americans do not know what the INDEPENDENTS and Democrats have done to us.