Fri Feb 14 06:06:39 UTC 2025: ## Trump Threatens BRICS with 100% Tariffs Over Dollar Challenge

**Cape Town, South Africa – February 14, 2025** – U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), threatening 100% tariffs if they attempt to challenge the U.S. dollar’s dominance in global trade. This comes as Brazil, holding the BRICS presidency this year, confirmed it will not be pursuing the creation of a common BRICS currency, despite previous suggestions from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

While the idea of a shared currency to rival the dollar has been floated, four unnamed government officials revealed that Brazil is instead focusing on streamlining international payments using local currencies. This approach aims to reduce reliance on the dollar, but officials insist this is not intended as a direct challenge to the U.S.

Trump, however, remains vehemently opposed to any perceived threat to the dollar’s hegemony. He declared BRICS “dead,” reiterating his threat of crippling tariffs on any member nation attempting to diminish the dollar’s global role. He dismissed the initiative as having “a bad purpose,” and claimed member nations are now too afraid to even discuss alternatives due to his warnings.

Brazilian officials emphasized that their proposed reforms within BRICS, including exploring technologies like blockchain to improve payment systems, are aimed at easing global trade friction and are not explicitly anti-American. They stressed that no BRICS nation intends to liquidate their dollar reserves. Even President Lula, while defending the right to explore alternative trade methods, has seemingly retreated from actively promoting a new BRICS currency.

Brazil will present its detailed plan for the BRICS summit in July at a meeting of BRICS representatives in South Africa later this month, on the sidelines of the G20 meetings. The outcome of these discussions will significantly impact the future trajectory of global trade and the influence of the U.S. dollar.

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