After Mexico, China and Canada, it is the BRICS that Donald Trump is attacking in his approach to economic patriotism.
“We demand that these countries commit not to create a new BRICS currency, nor to support another currency to replace the powerful American dollar,” Donald Trump declared on his Truth Social network, “otherwise » these countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa “will be subject to 100% tariffs and will have to expect to say goodbye to their sales in the wonderful American economy. »
But who exactly is he targeting? BRICS+ refers to nine countries that meet in annual summits: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia. The term refers to the first countries which joined in 2009, namely Brazil, Russia, India and China then South Africa in 2011. The four other states joined the “club” in 2024.
A “club” to compete with the G7
The term BRIC appeared in 2001 in a note from the investment bank Goldman Sachs. It designates high-growth emerging countries with an economic weight that continues to increase on a global scale. Today they claim almost half of the planet’s population and 35% of global GDP. If there is no political, economic and ideological uniformity between all the members, their common point is to one day be able to offer a counterweight to Western domination by positioning themselves as a competitor to the G7. Some countries such as Turkey and Venezuela are candidates for BRICS + but their membership was rejected at the last summit in Kazan (Russia) from October 22 to 24, 2024.
In the financial field, this group has considered ways of doing without the dollar, which serves as the reference currency for global trade. These countries have notably considered creating their own common currency. But this project, which would involve giving up part of its sovereignty within a group of very heterogeneous countries, is still very far from being completed.
During the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was giving up, at this stage, the creation of a single common currency, judging that this idea was “not yet mature”.
