KUALA LUMPUR — US President-elect (and former president) Donald Trump of the United States recently made bold statements on the economy again, including vowing that if certain countries attempt to replace the US dollar as the most commonly used currency for settlements of international trade, he would wield the much brandished about tariff stick and impose a 100-percent tariff on goods exported from those countries to the US.

I previously discussed in detail in this column, and elsewhere why, after Trump takes office, he may not be able to fully control US monetary policy under the country's system of separation of powers, as the Federal Reserve (America's central bank), for example, enjoys a high degree of independence from the executive and legislative branches of the US government in formulating its own monetary policy. However, at the very least, Trump is likely to seek a generally weaker US dollar in order to make American-made goods more competitive in international markets, thereby advancing his vision of "making America great again."

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