US President Donald Trump’s threats towards countries seeking to reduce their reliance on the US dollar may simply accelerate their move away from the American currency, economists told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
“You want to persuade people to use your currency because it fulfills some of the things … [like] providing stability and means of payment,” said Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics at Harvard University, during a panel discussion at the event.
“And if you’re being threatened, I think that only reinforces the incentive to try to diversify.”
Trump, who was inaugurated as US president on Monday, said in November that he required the Brics countries – which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – to promise not to create a new common currency or back any other currency to rival the US dollar.
If they failed to do so, Trump warned, the US would punish them by placing 100 per cent tariffs on their products.
“There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, at the time.
The US dollar has been a dominant currency in global trade for decades, as well as the major reserve currency held by central banks around the world. But its status is increasingly being challenged, as countries like China push to reduce their dependency on the dollar and internationalise their own currencies.