'Little group called BRICS' wants to try and take over dollar dominance, claims Trump
New York/Washington, Jul 19 (PTI): 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).
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
