- Trump also threatens tariffs of 200% on pharmaceuticals, 50% on copper
HAMILTON, Canada
US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that countries affiliated with the BRICS economic bloc will face a 10% tariff, accusing the group of working against the US.
"They have to pay 10% if they're in BRICS because BRICS was set up to hurt us," Trump argued during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
"BRICS was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar or sustain it, and take it off as the standard. That's okay, if they want to play that game, but I can play that game, too," he added.
Saying that "anybody that's in BRICS is getting a 10% charge," Trump said that "they're gonna have to pay 10% tariff just for that one thing, and they won't be a member alone."
On trade relations with Europe, Trump said the EU has changed its tone. "They treated us very badly until recently. Now they're treating us very nicely. It's like a different world."
"We're probably two days off from sending them a letter. We are talking to them. I just want you to (know) a letter means a (tariffs) deal," he said.
Trump took aim at South Korea, calling the US military presence there a financial loss.
"We rebuilt South Korea. We stayed there. It's okay. We rebuilt it. And we stayed there. And they pay us very little for the military," he said. "I said to South Korea as an example, you know, we give you free military, essentially very little, and I think you should pay us $10 billion a year. And they went crazy, but they agreed," Trump claimed.
He said the US has "45,000 soldiers in South Korea," adding, "It's tremendous money for them, and it's a tremendous loss for us."
Trump also threatened to impose up to 200% tariffs on pharmaceutical imports “very soon.”
“They’re going to be tariffs at a very high rate, like 200%,” he said, but indicated that those levies would not be implemented immediately, stating he would "give people about a year, year-and-a-half" before fixing the tariffs.
He said he would impose a 50% tariff on copper imports, not specifying the date of the tariff.
“Today, we’re doing copper,” Trump said. “I believe the tariff on copper, we’re going to make it 50%.”
Trade talks
Stating that countries have to make deals if they want to do business with the US, Trump said, "Tariffs are charged by other countries at levels that are ridiculous. And, you know, I call those other countries, and every one of them is willing to give us everything. 'We'll give you access to our markets, we'll give you everything,'" he said.
On whether there will be more trade agreements, Trump said, “Yeah, we have a lot of them going out, but the deals are mostly my deal to them.”
Emphasizing that the US does not want to hurt countries, Trump noted that in most cases, they choose a lower figure than what they are charged.
Trump underlined that the US could make many more deals, but it takes time and makes it complicated.
In April, Trump imposed sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs on most nations, later suspending them for 90 days, except for China.
After a standoff, Washington agreed to a trade deal with China after meeting in London last month.
The two sides agreed to set back some punitive tariffs, as well as other restrictive measures.
Trump said he has had very good relations with China lately.
Emphasizing that Washington gets along well with Beijing, Trump said, "They've been very fair with our trade deal, honestly. And I hope we're going to have a great relationship, big, strong, powerful country," Trump said.
"I'm getting along with President Xi (Jinping) very well. We speak often," he added.
