PARIS, December 3. /TASS/. The US President-elect's attempt to threaten the BRICS countries about the possible creation of a single currency and their refusal to settle in dollars will only convince the countries of the association that their chosen path is right, they will continue to look for an alternative to the US currency, French economist, scientific director of the Paris-based Higher School of Social Sciences (L'Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales) Jacques Sapir told TASS.

"Donald Trump's threats against countries that stop using the dollar are quite ridiculous. The countries against which these threats are directed, namely the BRICS, provide the bulk of American imports," he said, highlighting China and India. Russia, Sapir recalled, continues to supply agricultural fertilizers to the United States.

The French economist believes that if Trump makes good on his threat to raise import tariffs on these countries to 100%, such a move would lead to a doubling of the prices of medicines, consumer electronics and fertilizers in the United States. Sapir expressed doubt that this is what the US leader wants to achieve and called his statements counterproductive. According to him, these threats were made "not by the president-elect, but by Trump as a candidate in the election campaign," so he may still change his mind on this issue.

"The more the United States tries to protect the role of the dollar in international trade with the help of 'administrative' measures, the more they will emphasize the role of the dollar in their foreign policy and the more they will convince the BRICS countries of the need to find an alternative to the dollar," the economist concluded.

Earlier, Trump said that he would impose 100% trade tariffs on goods from the BRICS countries if they create a new currency or abandon the dollar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Valdai plenary session on November 7, noted that it is too early to talk about a single BRICS currency, as the countries of the association do not yet have such a goal. According to the Russian leader, in order to talk about a common currency, "greater economic integration" is needed, as well as "raising the quality of economies to a certain level, so that they are very similar, compatible in quality and structure with each other." Speaking at the BRICS summit in Kazan in October, the Russian president also called the use of the dollar as a weapon for political purposes a big mistake.