Dollar sinks as Trump’s new tariffs raise fears about U.S. debt and reserve currency status. ‘When it’s lost, economic collapse will follow’
The greenback dropped while precious metals rallied Sunday as financial markets started reacting to President Donald Trump’s new tariff threats.
The dollar sank 0.31% against the euro to $1.16 and tumbled 0.32% against the yen to 157.58. Meanwhile, gold rose 1.95% to a fresh record of $4,684.30 per ounce. Silver jumped 5.66% to $93.53, also a new high.
Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Monday, U.S. stock and bond futures were inactive.
On Saturday, Trump said Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will be hit with a 10% tariff starting on Feb. 1 that will rise to 25% on June 1, until a “Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
The announcement came after those countries sent troops to Greenland this past week, ostensibly for training purposes, at the request of Denmark.
Trump has refused to back down from taking over Greenland, even keeping military options on the table, while the administration has also left open the possibility of buying the island.
At the same time, the European Union is weighing options for retaliation, including the bloc’s anti-coercion instrument that has been described as a “trade bazooka” for its scope and severity.
Not only do Trump’s latest tariffs pose an existential threat to the trans-Atlantic alliance, the fallout could threaten the dollar’s dominance and so-called exorbitant privilege.
“The dollar’s reserve-currency status allows us to live beyond our means. Soaring debt, tariffs, and military threats jeopardize that status,” Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, warned on X. “When it’s lost, economic collapse will follow.”
And the EU holds significant leverage over Trump as European countries own $8 trillion of U.S. bonds and equities, almost twice as much as the rest of the world combined, according to George Saravelos, head of FX research at Deutsche Bank.
America’s vulnerability in global financial markets was not lost on Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who reacted to Schiff’s post.
“As the dollar’s reserve currency status diminishes, so does our ability to tax the world by creating more money,” he wrote. “When reserve status is lost, maintaining current spending levels and servicing the debt will be even more painful for Americans who will bear the full inflation tax.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com