No other legal tender can challenge the greenback’s reserve currency status, Scott Bessent has claimed
The BRICS nations will not be able to find a replacement for the US dollar even if they try, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed.
The comment comes as members of the economic group, including Russia, China, and India have increasingly shifted to national currencies in mutual settlements.
The BRICS countries have ramped up efforts to reduce reliance on Western currencies in bilateral trade in recent years, especially after Western sanctions led to the freezing of Russia’s reserves held in dollars and euros, following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Speaking on Wednesday to Fox Business about US President Donald Trump’s economic and fiscal goals, Bessent claimed that no other currency can replace the greenback.
“I’ve been in the currency markets for 30-35 years and I can tell you, there is no alternative to the dollar. These [BRICS] other countries can talk about it, they may try to take away our reserve currency status but there is no other reserve currency on the horizon,” Bessent said.
The BRICS group consists of its founding members – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – along with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Indonesia became a full member in January 2025. Additionally, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cuba, Uganda, Malaysia, and Uzbekistan are expected to gain official BRICS partner status this year. Over 30 nations have submitted applications to join the bloc.
Bessent’s remarks come after Trump warned BRICS member countries against replacing the “mighty US dollar” as a reserve currency, repeating the threat of 100% tariffs he made weeks after winning November’s presidential elections.
“There is no chance that BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade or anywhere else, and any country that tries should say hello to tariffs and goodbye to America!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform last week.
Addressing the issue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has denied BRICS has plans to create a common currency, although he highlighted ongoing discussions about joint investment platforms to boost economic cooperation among member states.
Speculation about a potential BRICS single currency has circulated in recent years. In 2023, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voiced support for the idea of a ‘trading currency’ within the economic grouping, drawing parallels to the euro. However, leaders of other BRICS nations, including Russia, India, China, and South Africa, have denied discussing such a move.
BRICS leaders have consistently emphasized that they do not seek to undermine the dollar, and that the greenback is only weakened by its politicization.
