Trump warns BRICS nations against replacing US dollar

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday demanded that BRICS member countries commit to not creating a new currency or supporting another currency that would replace the US dollar or face 100% tariffs.

“We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty US Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US Economy,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“They can go find another ‘sucker’. There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the US Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America.”

Earlier in the day, Trump discussed border, trade with Canada’s Trudeau in “very productive” meeting. He said on Saturday that he had a “very productive” meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in which they discussed border-related issues and other topics including trade, energy, and the Arctic.

“We discussed many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address, like the Fentanyl and Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration, Fair Trade Deals that do not jeopardize American Workers, and the massive Trade Deficit the US has with Canada,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

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“Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of US Families,” he added.

On Friday, Justin Trudeau visited Donald Trump’s Florida resort to meet him, days after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian imports over border-related concerns.

Trudeau, whose public itinerary did not list a scheduled visit to Florida, was seen leaving a hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, to go to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a Reuters witness.

Trudeau’s office and Trump’s representatives did not immediately responded to requests for comment.

Trump threatened on Monday to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until the countries clamped down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing their borders with the US

Officials from Mexico, Canada and China, along with major industry groups, have warned that the hefty tariffs threatened by Trump would harm the economies of all countries involved, cause inflation to spike and damage job markets.