Global De-Dollarization Sees Rise of China’s Yuan and Power

Trump bellicosity and a volatile global economy has spurred the ditching of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency. China is eager the Yuan to replace it.

In January, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to denounce Pakistan’s commitment to fighting terrorism. Twenty-four hours later, Pakistan’s central bank announced that it no longer would use the U.S. dollar in international transactions, and would instead switch to the Chinese yuan.

Four months later, in response to the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the United States’ nuclear weapons pact with Iran, the European Union announced that it would use its own currency, the euro, to pay for Iranian crude oil.

Earlier this month, Moscow and Beijing announced a plan to use their own national currencies in bilateral trade. Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the move would “increase the stability of banks’ servicing of export and import operations while there are ongoing risks on global markets.”

The Trump administration’s bellicosity has combined with the volatility of the global economy to sharply accelerate what has become an international movement: ditching the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. When Trump was inaugurated, the greenback was used in nearly 90 percent of all international transactions; today that figure has dropped to roughly two-thirds, according to Shabbir Razvi, the director of International Finance Solutions Associates.