When President Donald Trump takes office in January, the world could be hit by a second wave of tariff wars. The president-elect of the United States has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS countries, including India, if they devalue the US dollar or replace it with another currency in international transactions. His comments followed the BRICS meeting in October, which discussed promoting non-dollar trade. The BRICS group consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and other countries.
In a scathing online post this morning, President Trump said he would not stand by and watch the BRICS move away from the dollar.
“We are done with the idea that BRICS countries are moving away from the dollar while we stand by. “If it’s not the U.S. dollar, we’ll face 100% tariffs and say goodbye to the great American economy,” the president said last month. said the Republican leader who won a decisive election victory.
Read: Impact of President Trump’s new tariff policy on Asian economies including India
The president-elect suggested that while the BRICS countries could go find another “suck”, the group would not be able to replace the dollar with another currency in international trade. President Trump said, “They can go find another ‘duck’! There is no chance that BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade, and any country that aspires to do so should say goodbye to the US.” Ta.
BRICS and the dollar
The BRICS countries (which now also include Egypt, Iran and the UAE) discussed promoting non-dollar trade and strengthening local currencies at a summit in Kazan, Russia, in October.
The October summit secured a joint declaration to “strengthen the correspondent banking network within the BRICS region and enable payments in local currencies in line with the BRICS cross-border payments initiative.”
Read: How China’s new policy aims to avoid Trump’s tariffs
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested at the end of the summit that so far no alternative has been created to compete with Belgium-based financial messaging system SWIFT.
India has also expressed its opposition to de-dollarization. In October, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said it was neither part of India’s economic policy nor part of the country’s political and strategic policies. However, he said workarounds would be considered if trading partners do not accept the dollar or if trade policies create problems.
Trump, tariffs, and India
India’s tariff system has upset President Trump in the past, but so have Brazil and China. His 2025 tariff plan incorporates the concept of reciprocity against protectionist regimes. A month before the election, President Trump made it clear that this was the most important element in his plan to make America “abnormally wealthy.”
Read – ‘India’s biggest tariff levy’ will retaliate if elected to power: Trump
“Reciprocity is a very important word in my plan because we don’t normally charge customs duty. I started that process and it was great when it came to things like vans and light trucks. “We don’t actually charge tariffs. China will charge tariffs of 200 percent,” he said in October.
“The biggest culprit of all is India,” he asserted, while also praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India-US relations.
“I mean, I think they probably charge more than China in a lot of ways. But they do it with a smile. They do it…kind of a good charge. “Thank you very much for buying from India,” he said at the Detroit Economic Club.
