Donald Trump roars; warns BRICS nations against replacing dollar

STC NEWS MONITORING DESK
JANUARY 31 (STC): US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned BRICS member countries against replacing the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency, reports Reuters. He reiterated a threat of 100% tariffs that he had issued after winning the US elections in November.
The BRICS member nations don’t have a common currency, but the group has been seriously discussing to launch a common currency to neutralise the dominance of the US dollar. The BRICS move gained momentum especially after Russia faced sanctions from several western countries due to the war in Ukraine.
The BRICS member nations includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.
In a post on social media platform TruthSocial, Trump said, “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 or, they will face 100% Tariffs.”
It’s worth mentioning that Russia in December 2024 had said that any attempt to force BRICS countries to use the dollar, would only strengthen the demand for national currencies.
According to the reports, Donald Trump has also pledged to impose 25 per cent tariffs on neighbouring countries Canada and Mexico from February 1 to curb the entry of illegal immigrants and opioids such as fentanyl.
Meanwhile, a report quoting a study by the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center in 2024 states that there remained global reliance on the US dollar as a primary reserve currency. It also proved that the euro and attempts to form alternate currencies had been unsuccessful in unseating the US dollar.(Inputs from agencies)