The Brazilian president has said the group is committed to developing secure payment platforms as tariff threats from the US grow

The BRICS nations remain committed to developing new "transparent and secure" payment platforms to boost their economic integration and reduce "vulnerabilities" in the global market, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said.

The Brazilian leader made the statement at a meeting of the group's sherpas on Thursday, as BRICS continues to seek options to boost trade in national currencies and move trade away from the dollar.

Lula said that Brazil's BRICS chairmanship this year will strengthen the group's push for a multipolar world and will contribute to the "development of complementary, voluntary, accessible, transparent and secure payment platforms." 

BRICS - which recently expanded and now comprises Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, United Arab Emirates - has been boosting the use of national currencies in mutual trade.

"The current protectionist escalation in the area of trade and investment reinforces the importance of measures that seek to overcome obstacles to our economic integration. Increasing payment options means reducing vulnerabilities and costs," Lula said.

He was referring to numerous threats issued by US President Donald Trump to BRICS since his reelection last November.

Trump has acknowledged that the group's push to minimize dependence on the dollar in bilateral trade and promote national currencies undermines the dominance of the greenback, a tendency he seeks to resist.

The US president has threatened to cut trade with members of the group if they try "to destroy" the dollar. Earlier this month, he once again pledged massive tariffs on all imports from BRICS countries if they proceed with plans to establish a common currency.

Trump warned last week that "any BRICS state that even mentions the destruction of the dollar will be charged a 150% tariff." 

There has been speculation about a potential BRICS single currency in recent years. In 2023, Lula expressed support for the idea of a trading currency within the economic grouping, drawing parallels to the euro.

Although BRICS members have denied plans to establish a single currency, they have ramped up efforts to reduce reliance on Western currencies in bilateral trade in recent years.

The trend gained significant momentum after Russia was cut off from the Western financial system and had its foreign reserves frozen in 2022 as part of Ukraine-related sanctions. BRICS states, including Russia, have claimed that the US is weakening the dollar itself by politicizing it with sanctions.