US President Donald Trump repeated his tariff warning to BRICS nations, which includes India, after taking office on January 20, saying the member-countries will face 100 percent tariffs if they continue their de-dollarisation efforts.
"As a BRICS nation... they'll have a 100 per cent tariff if they so much as even think about doing what they thought, and therefore they'll give it up immediately," Trump was quoted as saying by ANI, referring to the effort to reduce the use of the dollar in global trade.
The comments during at a press meet at the Oval Office after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
BRICS, formed in 2009, is the only major international group of which the United States is not a part. Its members include India, Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Also Read | India should focus on internationalisation of rupee not de-dollarisation
Over the past few years, some of the member countries, Russia and China in particular, are seeking an alternative to the dollar or create own BRICS currency. India has, so far, not been part of the move.
"If the BRICS nations want to do that, that's OK, but we're going to put at least a 100 percent tariff on the business they do with the United States... It's not even a threat. In fact, since I made that statement, Biden said, they have us over a barrel. I said, No, we have them over a barrel. And there's no way they're going to be able to do that," Trump said.
In 2023, during the plenary session of the 15th BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for de-dollarisation, saying member countries must expand settlements in national currencies and enhance cooperation between banks.
Last month, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said India has not taken any steps towards de-dollarisation and is only looking to de-risk domestic trade from geo-political upheavals.
Das stressed de-dollarisation was not on the table.
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