US President Donald Trump had threatened BRICS member countries on Truth Social to halt efforts to use a new currency in place of the US dollar as a reserve currency or face 100%-tariffs, a statement nearly identical to the one he stated after winning the election in November 2024.
According to Trump’s post on his Truth Social, he stated that the idea of BRICS countries moving away from the dollar is over. They must not create any new BRICS currency or back any other currency, or they will face 100% tariffs. Furthermore, he also threatens tariffs on any other country that even tries to replace the US dollar in international trade.
BRICS was started in 2009, when the founding members, Brazil, Russia, India, and China, joined together to challenge a world order dominated by the United States and its Western allies. After South Africa joined, the organization became known as BRICS and later welcomed Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.
After the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, members of BRICS started to turn their attention more towards the currency topic as they do not have a common currency. On the other hand, The US dollar has become more powerful lately due to a strong US economy, tighter monetary policy, and geopolitical risks.
Last year, a study by the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center showed that neither the euro nor BRICS have weakened the global reliance on the dollar, which remains the world’s primary reserve currency.
