Anyone who wants to replace the dollar can "wave goodbye to America," the president-elect declared.
Donald Trump has warned that BRICS nations will face 100% tariffs on their goods if they introduce a reserve currency to compete with the US dollar. Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use tariffs to achieve his geopolitical goals.
"The idea that the BRICS nations are trying to move away from the dollar while we stand by and watch is over," Trump wrote on his Truth Social social network on November 30.
The US president-elect went on to write that he would ask the BRICS nations to commit to not creating a common currency, “or supporting any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar”, or they would face 100% tariffs.
“They can find another fool!” Trump continued. “There is no way BRICS will replace the dollar in international trade and any country that tries should wave goodbye to the United States.”
BRICS previously included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and was expanded in January to include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). About 30 other countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS.
Russia, which holds the rotating presidency of the group, has put forward the idea of introducing a common BRICS currency in 2022.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva echoed Russia's proposal last year, arguing that having the option to trade in another reserve currency would reduce the BRICS countries' "vulnerability" to fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate.
BRICS leaders did not announce plans for a BRICS common currency at their BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan last month. Instead, the group pledged to create a cross-border payments system to work alongside the Western SWIFT network and increase the use of local currencies in international trade.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in October that “cooperation within BRICS is not aimed at anyone or anything – not against the dollar or other currencies, but pursues the main goal of ensuring the interests of the countries participating in this format.”
Using local currencies to settle bilateral trade invoices “helps maintain economic development unaffected by politics,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time.
Donald Trump has vowed to use tariffs to address the US trade deficit, force foreign manufacturers back home and achieve a range of geopolitical goals.
In addition to proposing a general 20% tariff on all imported goods, Donald Trump threatened Canada and Mexico with an additional 25% tariff if they do not reduce the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States.
Mr Trump also said he would impose an additional 10% tariff on China, on top of any additional tariffs, until Beijing takes action to punish the manufacturers and traffickers of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.
