U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a warning to nations associated with the BRICS group, stating that his administration is preparing to introduce a 10% tariff on goods from member states and any countries aligning with the bloc. According to Trump, BRICS poses a direct challenge to America’s economic leadership and global financial influence.
During a government meeting on Tuesday, President Trump accused BRICS members of attempting to “undermine the U.S. dollar” and destabilize global markets. “They formed this group with the intention of damaging our financial system,” he claimed. “If they want to go after the dollar, they’ll face a 10% tariff. Every country that joins BRICS or supports it is on notice.”
When asked about when these tariffs would come into effect, Trump responded, “very soon.”
BRICS, an alliance originally founded by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2006, has grown significantly over the past year, welcoming South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. At a summit in Russia’s Kazan last year, the group announced a new “partner country” status to accommodate dozens of additional nations expressing interest in cooperation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking from this year’s summit in Brazil, noted that BRICS has overtaken the G7 in terms of combined GDP measured by purchasing power parity, now controlling close to 40% of the world’s economic output and representing nearly half the global population.
President Trump dismissed the alliance as unstable, asserting, “They’ve pretty much fractured already. But if they keep pushing to take the dollar down, that’s a path to a global disaster. Losing the dollar as the international benchmark would be like entering a world war.”
He added that the strength of the dollar underpins U.S. power globally and any attempt to replace it would “change the nation forever.”
BRICS leaders, on the other hand, have repeatedly denied any effort to weaken the dollar. Putin and others have blamed Washington’s overuse of financial sanctions as the reason countries are seeking alternatives. “Weaponizing the dollar was a huge miscalculation,” Putin said, warning it’s only accelerating the shift away from U.S.-led financial systems.
