President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose 100% tariffs against BRICS countries, if the group moves forward with a proposal to spin up a new common currency to rival the U.S. dollar.

In a post to Trump's Truth Social platform on November 30, the president-elect said that "the idea that the BRICS countries are trying to move away from the dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER." 

“We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty U.S. dollar or, they will face 100% tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. economy," he added.

The BRICS coalition was started as an alliance of emerging countries by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2011, with Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt joining in 2024. BRICS nations have talked about the idea of a new common currency to reduce their reliance on the American dollar for years, with discussions heating up at the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in 2022. Most recently, Brazil's President Luiz Inacia Lula da Silva floated the proposal at a BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August 2023, although other member states such as Russia and India have been hesitant to rush the process, with Russian President Vladimir Putin urging the group to move forward "gradually" ahead of the coalition's October 2024 summit. 

In the lead-up to his second term in office, Trump has frequently threatened to weaponize tariffs against nations he views as uncooperative, including proposed 25% levies against Mexico and Canada, over concerns related to the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl across U.S. borders. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he had reached a "mutual understanding" on those proposed tariffs after a meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on November 29, while Mexico's President Claudia Scheinbaum said on November 30 that she is similarly confident her country can reach a deal in time to avert the levies.