Nov 30, 2024 - Business

Trump threatens 100% tariffs on BRICS if they move away from the dollar

Ben Berkowitz

Diplomats from the BRICS nations gather around a round table for a summit. — Diplomats at a BRICS summit. Photo: Maxim Shemetov/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

President-elect Trump on Saturday threatened to impose 100% tariffs against emerging markets that try to shift away from the U.S. dollar in international trade.

Why it matters: The threat against the BRICS nations (primarily Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is the latest escalation in Trump's campaign to use the specter of tariffs to achieve policy goals.

Catch up quick: Trump, in a Truth Social post Saturday, demanded the BRICS countries fully support the dollar and not create their own competing currency.

If not, he said, "they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy."
As the Council on Foreign Relations noted earlier this year, a unified currency to supplant the dollar is a long-standing BRICS ambition, but internal divisions have stood in the way.

Between the lines: Trump campaigned on widespread tariffs, but has stepped up threats of new levies in recent days.

By tying the tariffs to certain behavior, some see Trump's social posts as an opening bid of sorts to prompt negotiations.
Earlier this week, Trump said he would impose new tariffs on Mexico over migration and drug flows, and within days he and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum were on the phone about the matter.

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Trump threatens 100% tariffs on BRICS if they move away from the dollar

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