iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a harsh critique of BRICS, claiming it would be “dead” if the group ever launched a rival currency, despite the fact that India has already dismissed such a proposal.
If BRICS wants “to play games with the dollar, then they’re going to be hit with a 100 percent tariff the day they mention that they want to do it,” Trump said on Thursday, February 13, before his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Trump had just signed a memorandum on reciprocal tariffs, directing his nominees for top commerce and international trade positions to prepare proposals for retaliatory tariffs that would match what each country charges for US imports.
“BRICS was put there for a bad purpose,” Trump said, going beyond the currency issue.
“And most of those people… don’t even want to talk about it now.”
“BRICS is dead… BRICS died the minute I mentioned that (about tariffs),” he added in a rambling response to a reporter’s question about whether he wanted BRICS dismantled or if he wanted to work with it.
Trump has repeatedly voiced concerns over the potential rivalry with the dollar posed by a BRICS currency, calling it a significant threat to the US dollar’s dominance in international trade.
Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar have firmly ruled out the idea of a BRICS currency.
India, as a founding member and the second-largest economy in BRICS, would need to approve the creation of such a currency.
“Those countries will trade with us, we will trade with them,” Trump said about BRICS.
But if they create a currency, “any trading gets through, it’ll be 100 percent tariff,” he warned.
When they hear that, “they don’t even want to admit that they were a member of BRICS,” he added.
BRICS, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as a forum for emerging economies, has since expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam have “partner country” status with BRICS.
Though it represents the world’s largest population group, BRICS is not a free trade organization, and its members have trade rivalries. Among its initiatives are the New Development Bank for concessional lending and cooperation in areas like telecommunications and business development.
(Photo courtesy: IANS)
