United States President-elect, Donald Trump, has vowed to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS countries that seek to replace the U.S. dollar in international trade.
He disclosed this in a statement posted on his official Facebook page on Sunday.
Trump, who is renowned for his “America First” policy, maintained that the U.S. will not watch idly as BRICS countries take such a stance against his country.
He stated:
“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. If they do not comply, they will face 100% tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. economy.
“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.”
BRICS was established in 2009 to challenge what some governments, including Russia and China, have described as U.S. global dominance.
As of 2023, Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, urged the international community to crush the alleged “hegemony” led by the United States through a sustained reduction in the use of the U.S. dollar for trade and bilateral transactions.
The U.S. dollar reportedly led the world’s official foreign exchange reserves by currency in the first quarter of 2023.
As of 2023, the BRICS bloc, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, along with six other countries — including Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Argentina, and Ethiopia — has pushed the agenda to de-dollarize their respective economies.
Last month, Nigeria officially joined BRICS as a partner country, alongside 12 other nations, further strengthening its economic ties with the intergovernmental bloc.
This announcement was made at the ongoing BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, held from October 22 to 24, 2024.
Nigeria’s inclusion came on the heels of a significant surge in foreign capital inflows from BRICS nations, which rose by 189% in the first half of 2024, reaching $1.27 billion, compared to $438.72 million during the same period in 2023.
Trump’s reaction suggests that U.S. government relations with several countries may become more stringent in the months ahead.