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Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat is to impose 100% tariffs on goods from the nine BRICS countries.
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He took the threat as a bargaining chip and warned the BRICS against competing with the US dollar.
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The US imported billions of dollars worth of goods from the BRICS countries in 2023, including clothing and electronics.
Newly elected President Donald Trump’s latest trade threat against nine countries could affect key US imports, risking price increases if tariffs are implemented.
In a Saturday post on Truth Social, Trump took aim at the BRICS group, which consists of nine countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. They have all tried to curb the global dominance of the US dollar. He wrote that he would impose a 100% tariff on those countries’ goods unless they commit not to create a new currency that competes with the dollar.
“There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade, and any country that tries to do so must say goodbye to America,” Trump wrote.
Business Insider looked at the top goods the US imports from BRICS countries, including medicines, clothing and electronics. While Trump appears to be using the tariff threats as a negotiating tool and could choose not to implement them on the scale he proposes, prices of key imports from the targeted countries could rise even with lower tariffs.
Trade data from the Census Bureau showed that BRICS countries accounted for about $578 billion in U.S. imports in 2023. China was responsible for the lion’s share of that trade, with about $427 billion.
In 2023, the US imported $66.7 billion worth of cellphones and other household goods from China, $37.4 billion worth of computers and $32 billion worth of toys, games and sporting goods.
The US imported $151 billion in goods from the remaining eight BRICS countries, including more than $11 billion in pharmaceutical preparations, followed by nearly $9 billion in gemstone diamonds, $6.3 billion in crude oil and $6.1 billion in cotton clothing and household goods. India was responsible for a large portion of imports from BRICS countries other than China.
Trump is targeting this group because some BRICS leaders have previously proposed taking measures to reduce their country’s dependence on the US dollar. Last year, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed creating a common currency for the BRICS countries.
The tariff threat against the BRICS came just days after Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, which would remain in place “until drugs, specifically Fentanyl, and all illegal alien creatures will stop this invasion of our land.” !” He also warned of a 10% tariff on imports from China, on top of any additional tariffs imposed against the country.
Russia has already responded to Trump’s tariff threat. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that if the US “used economic force to force countries to use the dollar,” it would allow countries to switch to other currencies for international trade.
Some companies, including Walmart and Columbia Sportswear, have already said they are preparing to raise prices if Trump were to impose tariffs on key trading partners.
The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of Trump’s tariff threats on prices. Trump has previously said tariffs will not hurt Americans, misleadingly calling them “a tax on another country” (US-imposed tariffs are paid by American importers).
During Trump’s first term, he threatened tariffs on Mexico in response to illegal immigration across the southern U.S. border, but later withdrew that plan. Senator Bill Hagerty told NBC News on Sunday that trade had long been used as a “strategic tool,” and he said he supported Trump using tariffs as leverage to achieve his priorities.
“We need to look very closely at countries that do not have our best interests at heart, countries that allow our borders to be violated,” Hagerty said, “and use those tariffs as a tool to achieve our goals.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
