US President Donald Trump said that the BRICS countries allegedly abandoned plans to create an alternative to the dollar in settlements after Washington threatened to impose duties of 150% and stop trading with them.
"When I came, I said: any BRICS country that even mentions undermining the dollar will receive duties of 150% and we will not trade with them. And BRICS just crumbled," Trump said, speaking at a meeting with Republican governors.
According to him, the BRICS countries "wanted to create a new currency," perhaps to use the Chinese yuan, but after the threat of the United States, "they changed their minds."
"They immediately fell silent. I do not know what happened to them, but since then we have not heard about BRICS anymore," Trump said.
Earlier it was reported that the BRICS countries discussed the possibility of expanding settlements in national currencies and creating a common currency within the bloc, but no final decisions were made on this issue.
BRICS is an interstate association established in 2006. In addition to Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Russia has been chairing the organization since January 1.