{"id":54690,"date":"2025-07-13T12:29:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T06:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=54690"},"modified":"2025-07-14T14:59:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:29:47","slug":"trumps-tariff-war-why-brics-is-his-latest-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/trumps-tariff-war-why-brics-is-his-latest-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Tariff War: Why BRICS Is His Latest Target"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Trump BRICS Tariff Threat Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Trump has threatened 10% tariffs on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/brics\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BRICS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> nations after their Rio summit 2025, continuing his pattern of trade-related warnings.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Trump Sees BRICS as a Threat<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Donald Trump views BRICS as \u201canti-American\u201d due to its push for a BRICS common currency and cross-border payment systems that bypass the US dollar.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He has repeatedly threatened high tariffs to deter such moves, especially after BRICS expanded and promoted local currency trade following Western sanctions on Russia.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Tariff Threats Targeting BRICS<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As BRICS leaders met recently in Rio for the 17th BRICS summit, President Trump warned of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning with BRICS<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, calling it a penalty specifically for BRICS membership.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though earlier he had threatened 100% tariffs, it&#8217;s unclear if or when these measures will be enforced.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trump&#8217;s irritation is largely driven by BRICS efforts to bypass the U.S. dollar in global trade.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alongside this, his administration has imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil, citing political bias against former President Bolsonaro, and 30% tariffs on South Africa over trade disputes and concerns about Afrikaner rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trump is also pushing for the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, proposing 500% tariffs on Russian oil and sanctioned products \u2014 a move that could directly affect India and China, two major Russian oil importers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>BRICS Denies De-Dollarisation Threat<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BRICS members have rejected Mr. Trump\u2019s concerns about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/de-dollarisation\/#:~:text=De%2Ddollarisation%20refers%20to%20the,also%20a%20unit%20of%20account.\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">de-dollarisation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, clarifying that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">using national currencies within BRICS isn&#8217;t aimed at replacing the U.S. dollar globally<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">De-dollarisation is the effort to reduce dependence on the US dollar as a reserve currency, medium of exchange, and unit of account.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This push intensified after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, which led to sanctions and exclusion from dollar-based systems like SWIFT.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Countries viewed this as the U.S. weaponizing the dollar. Additionally, overreliance on the dollar creates global financial vulnerabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emerging economies, gaining economic strength, now seek a more balanced and diversified financial system.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2025 BRICS Rio Declaration avoids direct challenges to the dollar, focusing instead on improving cross-border payment system interoperability.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While some leaders&#8217; rhetoric has been anti-U.S., official BRICS statements only express general concerns over unilateral trade measures without naming the U.S.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India Distances Itself from BRICS De-Dollarisation Push<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has firmly rejected U.S. claims that BRICS is &#8220;anti-American.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government clarified in Parliament that Russia&#8217;s report on alternative currencies was merely noted, not endorsed by all BRICS members.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar confirmed there is no Indian policy to replace the U.S. dollar, highlighting differences within BRICS on this matter.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>BRICS: Diverse Members, Common Frustration<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Founded in 2009 after the U.S. financial crisis, BRICS now includes 10 countries.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BRICS has expanded beyond its original five members to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the UAE, with more countries seeking to join.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite political and ideological differences, members agree global power favours the U.S. too heavily. Still, nations like India caution against giving BRICS an \u201canti-West\u201d image.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the Rio summit 2025, BRICS leaders condemned unilateral tariffs, indirectly criticising U.S. trade policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They also expressed concern over attacks on Iran\u2019s civilian infrastructure, without directly naming Israel or the U.S., showing diplomatic restraint.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/why-is-trump-taking-aim-at-brics\/article69805150.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH |<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2025\/07\/10\/business\/brics-tariff-threat-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CNN<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump threatens 10% tariffs on BRICS members, citing dollar threat. India distances itself from BRICS de-dollarisation push.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":54808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,1506,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-54690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-trump-brics-tariff-threat","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}