Terming the BRICS as a 'little group' that wants to take over the “dominance of the dollar,” US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 10 per cent tariffs on the bloc’s member nations if they did so. This is the second time in ten days that President Trump has threatened the member countries of BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – with 10 per cent tariffs.

“…You have this little group called BRICS. It's fading out fast, but BRICS is, they wanted to try and take over the dollar, the dominance of the dollar, and the standard of the dollar,” Trump told reporters at the White House Friday.

“And I said anybody that's in the BRICS consortium of nations, we're going to tariff you 10 per cent,” Trump said during an event to sign the GENIUS Act, the first cryptocurrency bill made into law, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoin cryptocurrencies.

Weeks after Trump's initial announcement of reciprocal tariffs on countries across the globe, the BRICS bloc during the two day summit in Rio De Janeiro earlier in the month, took indirect swipe at the US and raised serious concerns about the unilateral tariff hike. The tariff hike was inconsistent with the World Trade Organisation rules, it said and added that it will threaten global trade, the BRICS declaration on July 6 said.

On July 8, President Trump claimed that BRICS was established to “hurt” the US and “degenerate” the dollar and warned that the member countries of the bloc would face a 10 per cent tariff.

On Friday, Trump reiterated his concern about dollar as he said, the BRICS nations “had a meeting the following day and almost nobody showed up… they didn't want to be tariffed. It's amazing.” “No, we're not going to let the dollar slide. If we have a smart president, you're never going to let the dollar slide,” Trump said.

Underscoring the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency “for generations to come”, Trump said the reserve currency is “so important. “If we lost that, that would be like losing a world war.” “We can never let anyone play games with us, and that's why when I heard about this group from BRICS- six countries basically, I hit them very, very hard and if they ever form, if they ever really formed in a meaningful way, it will end very quickly… I don't think they'll even do it. They're virtually afraid of me,” Trump said.

Leaders of the BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran -- met in Brazil for the 17th BRICS Summit on July 6-7. Trump on July 6 had threatened to impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the “anti-American” policies of the BRICS grouping.

The BRICS group has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, India and the US teams have concluded the fifth round of talks for the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in Washington on July 17, an official said in New Delhi.

India's chief negotiator and special secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal led the team for negotiations that were held for four days from July 14 in the US capital. These deliberations are important as both sides are looking at finalising an interim trade deal before August 1, which marks the end of the suspension period of Trump tariffs imposed on dozens of countries, including India (26 per cent).

(with PTI Inputs)

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