Trump Says BRICS Acts Against America, US Dollar

According to the US president, BRICS wants to dent the status of the dollar as the world's reserve currency

WASHINGTON, July 30. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump said he believes BRICS seeks to counter the US and wants to dent the status of the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

"They have BRICS, which is basically a group of countries that are anti the United States, and India is a member of that, if you can believe it," he told reporters at the White House when discussing the tariffs that he wants to impose on India.

Talking about BRICS, Trump also said, "It's an attack on the dollar, and we're not going to let anybody attack the dollar."

The US president said the US is imposing tariffs on India in part due to its BRICS membership and in part due to trade. According to Trump, the US has a huge deficit in trade with the Asian country.

Previously, the American leader threatened on July 8 to impose 10% tariffs on BRICS members. He said the members of the group want to hurt the dollar and stop it from being the standard. Trump then also warned that the US will not allow the dollar to lose its status as the world's reserve currency.

Earlier, in a joint statement following the summit in Rio de Janeiro, BRICS countries spoke out against unilateral trade and financial measures, including tariff hikes and non-tariff barriers, which lead to trade imbalances and contradict WTO rules.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on July 15 that BRICS countries are seeking alternatives to dollar-based settlements in order to insure themselves against US abuses of the dollar’s status, and this process can no longer be stopped. According to the minister, Russia will continue to insist that it is reckoned with and will work honestly and openly, as befits a self-respecting, strong and independent power.