Brazil’s President Luiz Lula da Silva made a speech on Monday pushing BRICS to trade in national currencies. “The US won’t like it at first; it’s obvious they can’t like it,” he said while pushing de-dollarization to the forefront. His speech comes at a time when BRICS members bagged trade deals with the US to avoid tariffs. He stressed that Brazil must settle payments in national currencies with India and China.

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National Currencies Must Be BRICS’ Preferred Payment: Lula da Silva

The President stressed that BRICS members must trade in national currencies with each other and bypass the US dollar. “What we really want is to discuss the following for Brazil to trade with India. Is it necessary to use the dollar, or can we use our own currencies? For Brazil to trade with China, is it necessary to use the dollar? Or can the trade be conducted in Chinese and Brazilian currencies?” he said.

The Brazilian leader explained that finance ministers and Central Bank officials need to come up with a solution for BRICS to begin trading in national currencies. “This is something that our finance ministers and the President of the Central Bank need to discuss to find solutions. It’s not necessary (to use the US dollar), and I think we can prove that it’s not necessary.”

Lula da Silva mentioned that the US will not like the idea of BRICS using national currencies for trade. “The US will not like it at first; it’s obvious they can’t like it. I didn’t expect the US to agree with this idea. But let’s debate it and see if we can do something that’s fairer and penalizes countries less, especially the smaller ones. That’s the idea,” he summed it up. The topic of using national currencies for trade will be discussed at the next summit in India.