President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday warned the BRICS nations that they will face 100% tariffs if they replace the U.S. Dollar with their own currency.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump declared the BRICS coalition (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will be shut out of the U.S. economy if they move to replace the U.S. Dollar.
“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” Trump wrote.
“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. 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,” Trump added.
Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE have also joined the BRICS coalition, and 20 countries have formally applied for membership. An additional 40 nations have expressed interest in becoming members, including Serbia and Turkey.
The nine-member group held a summit in Kazan, Russia, last month to work out the framework for an independent financial system separate from Western financial interests.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had explained that using local (BRICS nations) currencies instead of the dollar or euro for international trade “helps to keep economic development free from politics as far as possible in the context of today’s world.”
Russia and the other BRICS nations’ plan to de-dollarize accelerated after the U.S. weaponized the dollar, now the world reserve currency, against Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“The unprecedented US-led sanctions campaign against Moscow due to the Ukraine conflict has forced Russia and other BRICS members to seek alternative ways to pursue trade. Russia’s leading banks were banned outright from the SWIFT international payment system back in 2022 as part of the restrictions,” RT said.
Putin added, “The dollar remains the most important tool in global finance but using it as a political weapon undermines trust in the currency.”
But the election of Trump for a second term has compelled the BRICS nations to rethink their de-dollarization plan.
In days after Trump’s election victory, Putin confirmed that BRICS would not abandon the dollar, but that going forward the bloc is “simply refusing to use the dollar as a settlement tool.”
“Our proposals are not aimed against [the] dollar,” he said, adding the BRICS proposals are “simply us rising to the challenge of modern times, in response towards the development of the economy we are thinking.”