The United States President, Donald Trump, has threatened the BRICS group of emerging economies with tariffs of 100 percent if they move away from the U.S. dollar as an international means of payment.
He issued the warning on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday.
Trump wrote: “The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar, while we stand by and watch, is OVER.
“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.
“If not, they will face 100 percent Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy.”
The acronym BRICS is derived from the initial letters of the founding member countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
In early 2024 Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt,t and the United Arab Emirates joined BRICS, while Indonesia joined at the beginning of January.
The group aims to counterweight the Group of Seven (G7) of leading Western economic powers.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly criticised the dominance of the U.S. currency and announced his intention to establish an independent payment and clearing system within the alliance.
The U.S. currency is by far the most important in global payment transactions.