By Abiola Olawale
United States President-elect Donald Trump threat to slam a 100 per cent tariff against BRICS, a major economic bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa has elicited reactions.
Trump on Saturday said that the decision of the economic bloc to move away from the US dollar would not be accepted by his incoming administration.
The New Diplomat reports that BRICS has been made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa since 2011 with more countries enlisting as observers.
The leader of one member country, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in 2023 proposed creating a common currency in South America to reduce reliance on the US dollar.
However, Trump, who took to his official X handle, said his administration won’t allow that.
He stated: “The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER.
“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.”
Trump also said in his post that the countries “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.”
The New Diplomat reports this comes after Trump had announced plans to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Mexico and Canada and a 10 per cent additional tariff on China over illegal migration and drug trafficking into the United States.
Some commentators have dismissed the threat as empty noise, stressing that Trump will only throw the US economy under the severe crisis of China and Russia team up against Trump’s proposed plan.
According to them, the Chinese economy is now almost the largest in the world and with an ally such as Russia” Trump will naturally back down.” “It’s an empty noise he is making. He can’t joke with BRICS. They will cripple the US economy,” one commentator wrote.
