Trump warns of imposing 100% tariffs on BRICS nations

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened BRICS countries with tariffs of 100 percent if they try to move away from the US dollar. 

In a post to his Truth Social on Saturday, Trump issued a stark warning to the nine countries that make up the organization.

The incoming commander-in-chief emphasized that the notion of the BRICS Countries moving away from the Dollar without any reaction is now a thing of the past.

He stressed the importance of these countries committing to not introducing a new currency for the BRICS group or supporting any other currency to supplant the powerful U.S. Dollar. Failure to comply would result in facing 100% tariffs and losing access to the lucrative U.S. market.

The commander-in-chief-in-waiting firmly stated that the BRICS will not succeed in replacing the U.S. Dollar in global trade, warning that any country attempting to do so would be turning its back on America.

BRICS is an intercontinental economic coalition led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that many see as the primary vehicle looking to challenge Western political and economic dominance.

Other countries involved in the alliance now include South Africa, Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia. 

The comments by Trump come after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he wanted to de-dollarize the world economy at the latest Brics summit last month. 

Trump has already pledged to impose tariffs as high as 60 percent on Chinese imports, and has threatened with additional ten percent tariffs should they not meet his demand. 

Earlier this week he sent shockwaves through the global markets when he said he would slap 25 percent tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada. 

He promised tariffs would come in to place if they didn’t stem the flow of migrants and drugs across the southern and northern U.S. borders.

The targeted nations – the three biggest trading partners of the United States – responded by warning they would retaliate with their own tariffs on goods. 

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum made it clear that she was prepared to hit back at Trump and Canada’s Justin Trudeau vowed to work with the incoming president to find a solution.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, slammed claims that Beijing is knowingly allowing fentanyl to flow into the United States.

Retail experts also revealed that Trump’s stringent policies would also, eventually, impact shoppers with higher prices for cars, gas, smartphones and appliances.

More than $1.3 trillion-worth of goods were imported in to America from the three countries last year, according to US Census Bureau data. 

The move against the United States’ three largest trading partners sparked fluctuations in the market and left the world guessing as to whether the threats were a negotiating tactic from the president-elect.

However, U.S. stock markets subsequently pushed to fresh records Tuesday, shrugging off the tariff threats.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 notched all-time highs, with many investors regarding the incoming president’s words as a bargaining chip.

Despite that Mexico’s Sheinbaum warned of dire economic consequences for the U.S. and Mexico, including job losses, as she suggested possible retaliation in kind.

‘One tariff will follow another in response and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,’ Sheinbaum said in a letter to Trump, which she read aloud in a press conference.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said he would work with Trump before he was then spotted inside Mar-a-Lago on Friday with the president-elect.

The tariffs suggested by Trump could cost every American consumer as much as an additional $810 a year, according to ING chief international economist James Knightley. 

But even before the president-elect made his latest threats, his proposed tariffs from the campaign trail would cost U.S. consumers up to $2,400, ING found.  In all, that would amount to up to $3,200 a year.

Their analysis before Trump’s latest threats looked at Trump’s sweeping plan to impose new tariffs including 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports and 10 to 20 percent tariffs on other countries he promised on the campaign trail in an effort to promote and protect American production. 

The research also found the new tariffs could increase inflation at a time where prices are already up for Americans across the country.

‘This potential increase in consumer costs and inflation could have widespread economic implications, particularly in an economy where consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of all activity,’ researchers wrote. 

Additional tariffs now being proposed by Trump could make the situation for consumers even more painful as the increased costs are past down the supply chain.