Trump Says BRICS Members Will Get Additional 10% Tariffs Over De-Dollarization Attempt

Authored by Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated a previous warning to BRICS nations that he would be imposing an additional 10 percent tariff on them, saying the bloc was created to replace the U.S. dollar as the dominant currency for international trade.

Speaking to journalists during a meeting with Cabinet officials at the White House, Trump said: “If they’re a member of BRICS, they’re going to have to pay 10 percent tariff just for that one thing. And they won’t be a member long.”

The president said that while he doesn’t see the bloc as “a serious threat,” it was set up to “destroy the dollar so that another country can take over and be the standard.”

“And we’re not going to lose the standard,” he said.

The comments came after some in the 11-member group denied comments by the U.S. president that the bloc supports “anti-American” policies.

BRICS, which was set up in 2009, initially included Brazil, Russia, India, and China before absorbing South Africa the next year and further expanding in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The group also involves partner countries Bolivia, Nigeria, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Uganda.

According to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who hosted the bloc’s 17th annual leaders summit this week, BRICS nations now represent more than half the world’s population and 40 percent of its economic output.

BRICS leaders have said they want payment alternatives to reduce dependency on U.S. dollars and the SWIFT system—a cross-border payment messaging mechanism that has been used to enforce U.S. and EU sanctions against Russian and Iranian entities.

In November 2024, Trump said he would hit BRICS members with 100 percent tariffs if they attempted to create an alternative trading currency to the U.S. dollar, a warning he repeated in January.

Writing on social media platform Truth Social on Monday, the U.S. president said, “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff.”

The BRICS leaders’ Sunday statement condemned military actions on Gaza and Iran by Israel, a U.S. ally, and called for reforms to global institutions, saying that the rise in “unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures” threatened global trade.

Reacting to Trump’s tariff warning on Monday, Lula said, “We don’t want an emperor.”

The Brazilian president said BRICS wants “another way of organizing the world from the economic perspective.”

He reiterated his call for trade relations that “don’t have to pass through the dollar.”

South African trade ministry spokesman Kaamil Alli said the country is “not anti-American” and still wants to negotiate a trade deal with the United States.

He said South Africa has had “constructive and fruitful” trade talks with the United States and is waiting to continue those talks.

India did not immediately provide an official response to Trump.

Malaysia, which was attending as a partner country and was slapped with 24 percent tariffs that were later suspended, said that it maintains independent economic policies and is not focused on ideological alignment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said BRICS members “share common approaches and a common world view on how to cooperate based on their own interest.”

He said the group’s cooperation “has never been and will never be directed against any third countries.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning denied that BRICS is “against any country.” He said the group is against the use of tariffs “as a tool for coercion and pressure.”

China Affairs commentator Wang He told The Epoch Times that it’s “very unfair” to the United States and others that China, the world’s second-largest economy, is still treated as a developing country.

Wang said that the U.S. trade deficit last year, which was around $1 trillion, is unsustainable for any country.

“The United States has its reasons [to impose tariffs], but it would clash with the interests of some other countries, in particular, BRICS members,” he said.

While the BRICS statement did not mention the United States, “the theme was not beneficial, but rather unfriendly to the United States,” Wang said.

Sun Kuo-hsiang, professor of international affairs and business at Nanhua University in Taiwan, said additional tariffs for BRICS members could increase global trade tensions and supply chain costs, and trigger complaints to the World Trade Organization.

However, some BRICS members, such as Brazil, India, and South Africa, have mostly taken a “pragmatic and cautious” approach instead of aligning with Washington, Beijing, or Moscow, he said.

New members, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates “joined BRICS based on considerations of economic interests and multilateralism, and will maintain room to cooperate with the United States instead of taking sides,” he added.