In a striking announcement on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said BRICS member nations, including India, will face a 10% tariff, alleging that the group was designed to undermine the United States and “degenerate” the US dollar.
“They (India) have to pay 10 per cent if they are in BRICS, because BRICS was set up to hurt us, to degenerate our dollar, to take it off as a standard. That is okay if they want to play their game, I can play their game too,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump declared that any country aligned with BRICS would be subject to this “charge”, as part of his broader agenda to defend the global dominance of the US dollar, which he described as “king.”
Targeting BRICS and India
The announcement came during a cabinet meeting attended by key officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump specifically mentioned India, despite its close ties with Washington in recent years, making this declaration particularly notable.
“So anybody that is in BRICS is getting a 10 per cent charge. If they (India), they’re gonna have to pay a 10 per cent tariff,” he reiterated.
Trump: BRICS Seeks to ‘Destroy’ Dollar
Trump accused BRICS of attempting to replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency.
“BRICS is not, in my opinion, a serious threat, but what they try to do is to destroy the dollar so that another country can take over and be the standard,” Trump claimed.
“We are not gonna lose the standard.”
He suggested that any such challenge to the dollar’s dominance would come at a steep cost for participating nations.
“Countries seeking to challenge the dollar are gonna have to pay a big price. I don’t think any of them is willing to pay that price,” he warned.
‘Dollar Is King’ — Trump Criticizes Biden
Trump used the occasion to criticize his predecessor Joe Biden, suggesting that under weak leadership, the US could lose its grip on the global financial system.
“If you have a smart president, you will never lose the standard. If you have a stupid president like the last one, you would lose the standard… It would be like losing a major world war,” Trump said.
“The dollar is king. We are gonna keep it that way.”
Trump’s View: BRICS Already Collapsing
The former president claimed that the BRICS bloc has already started to unravel, saying:
“I thought BRICS was, and I said it a year ago, that it largely broke up, but there are a couple of them hanging around.”
Background: BRICS Expansion and US Concerns
BRICS — initially a five-nation group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — has recently expanded to include countries like Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the UAE, aiming to reshape global economic governance and challenge Western-led institutions.
With efforts underway to develop alternatives to the US dollar for trade settlement, Washington has grown increasingly wary of the bloc’s ambitions. Trump’s tariff threat is the clearest signal yet that his administration sees BRICS not just as a geopolitical alliance, but as an economic threat to US monetary hegemony.
Implications for India
India, which maintains strong ties with both the West and BRICS members, now finds itself in a diplomatic tightrope. While it benefits from BRICS cooperation on development finance and global south solidarity, the prospect of US tariffs could force policy recalibrations — especially if Trump is re-elected in November 2025.
Analysis: Trump’s declaration may escalate global trade tensions, revive concerns about protectionism, and create fresh uncertainties for nations navigating between multipolar alliances and US-centric trade norms.