US President Donald Trump has threatened levies on BRICS nations and those aligned with them, saying members of the economic bloc could pay an additional 10% tariff charge.
Trump has repeatedly criticized BRICS and recently escalated his rhetoric, claiming he is ready for tariffs not only on its members but also on any country that “aligns itself” with the bloc, which he accuses of embracing “anti-American policies.”
Asked whether the tariffs would take effect immediately, Trump said they would kick in “pretty soon.”
BRICS, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2006, has expanded to include South Africa, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. At the group’s summit in the Russian city of Kazan last year, BRICS approved a new ‘partner country’ status in response to growing membership interest shown by more than 30 countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday, during the BRICS Summit in Brazil, that the bloc’s combined GDP has overtaken that of the G7 when measured by purchasing power parity. The group now represents nearly half the world’s population and about 40% of global GDP.
Trump said he believed the bloc had “largely broke[n] up,” while accusing BRICS of trying to undermine America’s financial dominance by dethroning the dollar as the global standard. Losing the “dollar is king” status, he warned, would be tantamount to “a major world war.”
“We would not be the same country any longer,” he said.
BRICS leaders have repeatedly stated that they have no interest in weakening the dollar, and that the greenback can only be weakened by its politicization. Putin has criticized Washington’s “weaponization” of US currency through sanctions and financial restrictions, calling it a “big mistake” that is pushing countries to seek alternatives.
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