Trump doubles down on 10 per cent tariff for BRICS; threatens 200 per cent tariff on pharma

New York:  US President Donald Trump doubled down on his threat to charge BRICS members an additional 10 per cent tariff and alleged that the group was “set up to degenerate our dollar”.

Speaking to reporters as he presided over a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump said: “Anybody that’s in BRICS is getting a 10 per cent charge” — and that would include India.

On another trade issue that could affect India, Trump said that a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals would come soon, but added he would “give people about a year, year and a half”.

“We’ll give them a certain period of time to get their act together,” he said about the pharmaceutical companies.

India’s pharmaceutical exports to the US last year was nearly $9 billion.

A reporter recalled that he had said Monday night that trade deal was coming with India soon and asked him about the applicability of the proposed BRICS tariff.

He said: “Anybody that’s in BRICS is getting a ten per cent charge. If they’re member of BRICS, they’re gonna have to pay per cent tariff just for that one thing, and they won’t be a member for long.”

India has opposed a BRICS currency for trade to compete with the dollar and exercised a virtual veto on the proposal.

Laying out India’s policy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in March: “I don’t think there’s any policy on our part to replace the dollar.”

Affirming the importance of the dollar to the world’s and India’s economy, he added: “At the end of the day, the dollar as the reserve currency is the source of international economic stability, and right now, what we want in the world is more economic stability, not less.”

The letter he sent to BRICS member South Africa on Monday said only that it would face a 30 per cent tariff starting next month, but made no mention of BRICS penalty.

Trump said the BRICS tariff would come “soon”.

Despite India’s so far successful efforts to stop the creation of a BRICS currency, Trump continued to complain about a BRICS conspiracy.

“BRICS was set up to hurt us. BRICS was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar as the standard, take it off as the standard,” he said.

He said that he would oppose it because it would be like losing a war, he said.

“And that’s okay if they want to play that game, but I can play that game too,” he said.

He said he thought BRICS “largely broke up” with only a couple of countries hanging around.

“BRICS is not, in my opinion, a serious set-up,” he said.

But he said that they want to destroy the dollar “so that another country can take over and be the standard, and we’re not going to lose the standard”.

In fact, opposition from India to a BRICS currency is because of the threat of China manipulating it to its benefit.

–IANS