By Janhvi Ahuja
Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, cautioned the countries that are a part of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). He threatened the countries to prevent them from replacing the US dollar as the global reserve currency, reiterating that a 100% tariff would be imposed if they pursued such actions.
In a post published on the social media platform of TruthSocial, Trump made the statement that, “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 US dollar. Otherwise, they will face 100% Tariffs”.
He further added, “They can go find another sucker nation. There is no chance that BRICS will replace the U.S Dollar in International Trade, or anywhere else, and any other country that tries should say hello to Tariffs, and goodbye to America.”
In December of 2024, Russia had made a statement saying that any attempt on making the BRICS nations use the dollar currency, would only lead to them strengthening their demand for national currencies.
A study conducted in 2024 by the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Centre showed a definitive global dependence on the US dollar as a primary reserve currency. Not only this, but it also proved that the euro as a currency along with other attempts to create alternate currencies that would diminish the dollar’s prominence, were unsuccessful.
The BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, each have their own currency and no collective one. Discussions on this topic have gained momentum due to sanctions on Russia over its war with Ukraine.
In addition to the BRICS nations, there has been a global push against the US dollar, driven by a rising economy, change in taxes, improvement in monetary policies and geopolitical crises by America.