CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump mentioned he would require nations which can be a part of BRICS — a China- and Russia-backed group of rising economies — to decide to not creating new foreign money or face 100% tariffs throughout his administration.
“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER. We require a commitment from these 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, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump posted on Fact Social on Saturday afternoon.
BRICS had been made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa since 2011. Earlier this yr, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt formally joined — the primary enlargement in over a decade. Thirty-four nations have submitted an expression of curiosity in becoming a member of the bloc of main rising economies, South African Overseas Minister Naledi Pandor mentioned in February.
The chief of 1 member nation, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in 2023 proposed creating a typical foreign money in South America to scale back reliance on the US greenback.
Utilizing BRICS currencies and banking networks exterior the US dollar-denominated system may enable member nations equivalent to Russia, China and Iran to circumnavigate Western sanctions. However the probabilities of a brand new foreign money are in all probability slim because of the alliance’s financial and geopolitical variations.
The increasing group is effective to China because it seems to forge nearer partnerships with key gamers to problem the US’ international management. And it’s additionally a boon to Russia, which has been shunned economically and diplomatically by the West following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This yr, Russia assumed rotating chairmanship of the group.
Throughout a BRICS summit in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese language chief Xi Jinping sought to undertaking the message that the West stands remoted on the planet, whereas a “global majority” of nations help their bid to problem American international management.
Trump’s newest financial menace comes days after he pledged large hikes in tariffs on items coming from Mexico, Canada and China beginning on the primary day of his administration. The transfer, Trump mentioned, will likely be in retaliation for unlawful immigration and “crime and drugs” coming throughout the border.
Since that announcement, Trump spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for the primary time following the tariff announcement, however they’ve provided conflicting statements concerning the name. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the meantime, traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida to fulfill with the president. Trudeau mentioned the Friday dinner with Trump “was an excellent conversation,” and the president-elect referred to as it a “very productive meeting.”
CNN’s Simone McCarthy, Robert Ilich and Equipment Maher contributed to this report.
