China rejects Trump’s 100% tariff talk

China on Thursday said BRICS doesn’t advocate bloc confrontation and does not target any third party, days after US President Donald Trump’s assertion that 100 per cent tariffs would be imposed on the group if its member nations tried to cut dollar use in trade.

India, for its part, has already stated that it had “no interest” in weakening the US dollar. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during his address at the Doha Forum in December last year, had said India had never been for “de-dollarisation” and right now there was no proposal to have any BRICS currency.

“The US is our largest trade partner. We have no interest in weakening the dollar at all,” he had said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) today said, “As an important platform for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries, BRICS advocates openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, not bloc confrontation, and does not target any third party. The aim is to realise common development and prosperity.”