Some of the world’s group of countries known by the acronym BRICS appear to be calling America’s bluff over consequences to their plan against snubbing the US dollar in favour of an alternative currency of their own.
They face a serious barrage of punitive tariffs from the Trump administration determined to undercut their growing influence on the politics of global trade.
Although Trump’s second coming to the White House has led to a US foreign policy shift on Russia, its role in BRICS will throws up more questions of Washington-Moscow relations for the next four years.
In one breath. Washington’s punitive move which would include sanctions is meant to arrest BRICS’s de-dollarisation drive in its tracks, bully its partners into steering clear of them and preserve US economic clout milked through the international currency status of the dollar.
BRICS comprises the economically emerging nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa which has since 2023 expanded to include two other African countries Egypt and Ethiopia with Nigeria as a partner nation. The non-African members are Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Together these countries constitute 46% of the world’s population, 25% of its land area and a purchasing power parity of 35.6%. Recent figures suggests that BRICS’s economy has grown exponentially since 1990 while trade within members of the group reached $614.8 billion in 2022.
With this growing economic clout which guarantees it a global reach, there were calls from some of its members to develop an alternative global trading currency to replace the dollar which the Trump White House is bent on disrupting by a series of confrontational tariffs which could go up by 150 percent. Trump last December made it crystal clear that his administration will not play footsies with BRICS over its unmistakable desire to challenge or end the US economic hegemon which has been in place since the end of the Second World War.
From a African perspective South Africa, Ethiopia and Nigeria are being left to do a balancing act between maintaining what;s left of good grace from Washington and associating with BRICS to tee up the economic opportunities which come with this openness.
Nigeria, which is not an official BRICS member but enjoys partnership status with it has been keen to identify openly with this exclusive group of emerging economies which is attracting interest to join from other countries eyeing its potentials for investment and far-reaching economic cooperation in spheres such as oil and gas.
Writing on The Guardian-Nigeria, Dansofo says by cultivating ties with BRICS, Africa’s biggest economy stands to gain through the development of its energy infrastructure for example.
”In 2024, Nigeria reportedly attracted $1.27 billion in foreign capital…As a country rich in natural resources, Nigeria could be seeking to diversify its trade partnerships beyond its traditional Western allies. BRICS provides an opportunity to interact with developing economies, especially in areas such as oil and gas, agriculture and technology” he writes.
With BRICS setting up the New Development Bank (NDB) for access to finance infrastructure projects, its members can afford not to pay much attention to Trump threats to introduce tariffs or impose sanctions.
In fact with tensions between Washington and Pretoria over a land redistribution scheme, South Africa may just find its future with a system envisioned with BRICS in charting a bold new course away from a dollarised global trading system. In open defiance of the Trump White House, some BRICS members such as Brazil are flirting with the idea of an alternative currency to replace the dollar. This is gaining traction within BRICS given U.S. sanctions on some of its members including Russia and affiliates.
President Lula da Silva, a vocal critic of Trump’s approach to restructuring the global trading system said recently that Brazil and its fellow BRICS members will not be bullied into submission. He had vowed that the onward march by BRICS towards de-dollarisation of world economics is on an irreversible trajectory and nothing was going to change this course of history.
Thus the White House under Trump is set on an inevitable collision course with BRICS who are prepared to call United States bluff irrespective of the consequences to relations with the world’s most powerful economy.
Trump’s trade war with BRICS may serve to push its members closer together and help realise their collective potential as an alternative force to be reckoned with in global geo-economic affairs affecting over 3 billion people. For example South Africa, a founding BRICS member contends with criticism and threats of sanctions from Washington over its land redistribution policy.
The Trump White House has been baring its teeth on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government over its attempt to right a historical wrong in black-majority South Africa where ownership of land still favours the white minority population. Although Ramaphosa has employed conciliatory rhetoric toward Washington, it is clear that South Africa may begin to view BRICS as the next great thing to happen to it as it look elsewhere for friends and allies on the international stage.
WN/as/APA