Will Beijing De-Dollarize or Dump US Treasury Debt?

Tough trade talks could lead Beijing to threaten de-dollarization or sell U.S. Treasury debt to gain concessions from Washington.
Will Beijing De-Dollarize or Dump US Treasury Debt?
The headquarter of the People's Bank of China in Beijing on Dec. 13, 2021. Andrea Verdelli/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Commentary
Anticipating what tactics Beijing might use against U.S. President Donald Trump amid trade negotiations, several media outlets here, in Europe, and elsewhere have begun to speculate that China will threaten to distance its economy and its trade from the dollar—de-dollarize in the popular parlance—and perhaps sell off its extensive holdings of U.S. Treasury debt. Neither act, however, is at all likely, certainly not as an immediate bargaining chip.
Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."