Although both sides have had a contentious first three months of the year, one BRICS nation has made a major deal with the US. Indeed, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made headlines last week when it announced a $1.4 trillion investment framework in the United States. Now, the geopolitical landscape is asking just what it means for both sides.
The economic alliance has been on the receiving end of the ire of US President Trump since his election win in November of last year. He has maintained his focus on ensuring the status of the US dollar as a global reserve asset does not change. In doing that, he has targeted the BRICS bloc. Specifically, he has answered their de-dollarization efforts with aggressive economic policy.
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UAE & US Make Major Deal: So What Does That Mean for BRICS?
The last three months have seen increased geopolitical tensions between the West and the Global South. For the last two years, the latter has sought to promote the use of local currencies in its trade dealings. That has been a focal point for the alliance as it pursued ways to level the playing field of global economies.
However, the tensions between the BRICS and the US took an interesting turn last week when the UAE struck a deal with the Trump administration. Moreover, they agreed to a 10-year agreement that will see them inject the Western power with an influence of capital. The deal came together quickly, with the agreement coming just days after the US president and UAE officials met.
So, what exactly does this mean for the economic alliance? The UAE is very much engaged in the bloc’s continued development. In fact, Monday saw Russia and the country meet to discuss the strengthening of their cooperation. That would lead some to believe that the alliance has come to an end in the traditional sense.
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Yet that has been rejected by India in a recent statement. Indeed, the nation’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, discussed the belief that the bloc is “disintegrating” under the weight of US tariff threats. He clearly spoke out against such accusations, claiming that the bloc was continuing its growth efforts as a collective.
The reality is that this may be the bloc evolving past its de-dollarization efforts. Many of the participating countries have sought to challenge the belief that they want to end the greenback. Therefore, it looks as though that has become their primary function.
Specifically, the BRICS bloc is set to embrace trade and economic access for developing nations. In the meantime, they will seek to challenge the unbalanced global hierarchy that sees the United States as the dominant force. As long as they don’t target the US dollar directly, President Trump may just be able to live with that.
