The BRICS currency launch remains scheduled for 2026, despite Trump’s latest attempt to prevent it.
A couple of days ago Trump threatened to impose duties A 10% tariff on countries joining the economic bloc. He previously promised a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods, which is scheduled to take effect on November 1.
However, these threats had no impact on the process, UltimaMarkets analysts confirm. Chinese officials, in turn, immediately responded, calling it a «typical example of US double standards» and warning of countermeasures that could be taken at any time.
Meanwhile, BRICS countries are actively abandoning the US dollar. Russia and China currently conduct energy deals in rubles and yuan, while India will pay for Russian oil in yuan, rubles, and UAE dirhams starting in 2023. BRICS Pay and BRICS Bridge are being developed as alternatives to SWIFT, and are considered critical to the launch of the BRICS currency.
The bloc recently expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, and Indonesia. BRICS now controls a quarter of the global economy and nearly half the world’s population, and more and more countries are lining up to join, further increasing pressure on the United States.
Alicia Garcia-Herrero, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, believes that Trump’s tactic of blocking the BRICS currency is unlikely to be effective:
Trump has reason to be concerned. BRICS is clearly anti-Western. One of its slogans is changing the world order.
By weaponizing the dollar, Trump is pushing the BRICS countries to accelerate the issuance of their own currencies. All signs point to 2026 being the year alternatives to the dollar emerge.