BRICS set up to ‘degenerate our dollar’, says Trump

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that a 10% tariff on imports from countries part of the BRICS grouping will be introduced “pretty soon”, citing concerns about the multilateral forum’s growing influence and its impact on the US dollar.

“If they’re a member of BRICS, they’re going to have to pay a 10% tariff... and they won’t be a member [for] long,” Trump said.

The comment during a Cabinet meeting followed Trump’s warning to countries on Sunday against aligning with the “anti-American policies” of the BRICS.

The BRICS grouping comprises India, Brazil, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Washington views the group as attempting to become an economic counterweight to the US.

Without offering evidence, Trump on Tuesday, accused BRICS of trying to weaken the US and undermine the dollar’s position as the global reserve currency.

“BRICS was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar...take it off as the standard,” he said. “And that’s okay if they want to play that game, but I can play that game too.”

BRICS is “not, in my opinion, a serious threat,” he added. “But what they’re trying to do is destroy the dollar so that another country can take over and be the standard,...

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