• Donald Trump's latest tariff threat is to levy 100% duties on goods from the nine BRICS countries.
• He framed the threat as a bargaining chip, warning BRICS against competing with the US dollar.
• The US imported billions of dollars of goods from BRICS in 2023, including apparel and electronics.

President-elect Donald Trump's latest trade threat on nine countries could affect key US imports, risking price increases if the tariffs are implemented.

In a Saturday post on Truth Social, Trump targeted the BRICS group, which comprises nine countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. All have pushed to curb the global dominance of the US dollar. He wrote that he would impose a 100% tariff on those countries' goods unless they committed to not creating another currency that competes with the dollar.

"There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America," Trump wrote.

Business Insider looked at the top goods the US imports from BRICS nations, including medicine, apparel, and electronics. While Trump appears to be using the tariff threats as a negotiating tool and could choose not to implement them at the scale he's proposing, the top imports from the targeted countries could see prices increase even with smaller tariffs.

Census Bureau trade data showed that in 2023, the BRICS nations together accounted for about $578 billion in US imports. China was responsible for the lion's share of that trade, with about $427 billion.

In 2023, the US imported $66.7 billion in cellphones and other household goods from China, $37.4 billion in computers, and $32 billion in toys, games, and sporting goods.

The US imported $151 billion in goods from the remaining eight BRICS nations, including over $11 billion in pharmaceutical preparations, followed by nearly $9 billion in gem diamonds, $6.3 billion in crude oil, and $6.1 billion in cotton apparel and household goods. India accounted for much of the imports from BRICS nations other than China.

Trump is targeting this group because some BRICS leaders have previously suggested acting to reduce their countries' reliance on the US dollar. Last year, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed creating a common currency among the BRICS nations.

The tariff threat on BRICS came just days after Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada that would remain in effect "until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" He also warned of a 10% tariff on imports from China on top of any additional tariffs put in place on the country.

Russia has already responded to Trump's tariff threat. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that if the US used "economic force to compel countries to use the dollar," it would empower countries to shift to other currencies for international trade.

Some companies, including Walmart and Columbia Sportswear, have already said they are preparing to increase prices should Trump implement tariffs on key trading partners.

The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of Trump's tariff threats on prices. Trump has previously said tariffs will not hurt Americans, misleadingly calling them "a tax on another country" (tariffs imposed by the US are paid by US importers).

During Trump's first term, he threatened tariffs against Mexico as a response to illegal immigration over the southern US border but later withdrew the plan. Sen. Bill Hagerty told NBC News on Sunday that trade had long been used as a "strategic tool," and he said he supported Trump using tariffs as leverage to achieve his priorities.

"We need to take a very hard look at countries that don't have our best interests at heart, countries that are allowing our borders to be violated," Hagerty said, "and use those tariffs as a tool to achieve our ends."