Trump Repeats Tariffs Threat to Dissuade BRICS Nations from Replacing Dollar

An employee counts US dollars in an exchange house, in Bogota, Colombia January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
An employee counts US dollars in an exchange house, in Bogota, Colombia January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
TT
20

Trump Repeats Tariffs Threat to Dissuade BRICS Nations from Replacing Dollar

An employee counts US dollars in an exchange house, in Bogota, Colombia January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
An employee counts US dollars in an exchange house, in Bogota, Colombia January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

President Donald Trump on Thursday warned off BRICS member countries from replacing the US dollar as a reserve currency by repeating a 100%-tariffs threat he had made weeks after winning the November presidential elections.
"We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty US Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs," Trump said on Truth Social in a statement nearly identical to one he posted on Nov. 30.
At the time, Russia said that any US attempt to compel countries to use the dollar would backfire.
The BRICS grouping includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and a few other countries that joined in the past couple of year. The grouping does not have a common currency, but long-running discussions on the subject have gained some momentum after the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
"There is no chance that BRICS will replace the US Dollar in International Trade, or anywhere else, and any Country that tries should say hello to Tariffs, and goodbye to America!," Reuters quoted him as saying.
Trump posted his warning to the BRICS as Canada and Mexico await for his decision to follow through on a pledge to impose 25% tariffs on the United States' North American trading partner from Feb. 1.
Trump wants to use tariffs as a tool to get Mexico and Canada to help stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, particularly the deadly opioid fentanyl, and also migrants crossing illegally into the US.



Iraq Appoints Ali Al-Shatari as Director General of Oil Marketer SOMO

A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)
A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)
TT
20

Iraq Appoints Ali Al-Shatari as Director General of Oil Marketer SOMO

A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)
A special forces soldier waves an Iraqi flag from the top of a church damaged by ISIS forces in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters)

Iraq, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), appointed a new chief for national oil marketer SOMO, the company said on Thursday.

Ali al-Shatari will become the director general of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), succeeding Khudhyer Abed, also taking over as Iraq's governor in OPEC, according to Reuters.

SOMO, which markets all Iraqi oil, is expected to begin handling oil output from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region after the end of an almost two-year dispute with the government in Baghdad.