Former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that the BRICS alliance, which includes India, “broke up” after he threatened to impose a 150% tariff for allegedly undermining the U.S. dollar.
Trump, who has repeatedly warned against BRICS nations attempting to establish an alternative global currency, asserted that his aggressive stance forced the group to dissolve.
“I don’t know what the hell happened to them. We haven’t heard from the BRICS states lately,” Trump said. “They were trying to destroy our dollar, planning to create a new currency. So, the first thing I did was announce that any BRICS nation even mentioning the destruction of the dollar would face a 150% tariff. We don’t want their goods—and suddenly, the BRICS states just broke up.”
BRICS is an intergovernmental organization consisting of ten countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
On February 13, Trump had already warned that the U.S. would impose 100% tariffs on BRICS nations if they attempted to challenge the dollar’s dominance.
Declaring that BRICS is now “dead,” Trump reiterated his threat to cease trade with member nations if they pursued a rival currency.
“BRICS was finished the moment I mentioned it,” Trump claimed. “I remember when Obama and Biden said these countries had us over a barrel. But BRICS was created for a bad purpose, and most of its members don’t even want it anymore. They’re afraid to talk about it now because they know if they play games with the dollar, they’ll be hit with a 100% tariff.”
