Low but prime Trump card | The Manila Times

KOTA KINABALU — In my previous articles, I discussed why and, as best he could, how the incoming (and former) US President Donald Trump is likely to pursue a low as opposed to a high dollar value. Nevertheless, Trump recently declared that if there are certain countries that attempt to replace the dollar with some other major currencies as the primary international trading currency, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on goods exported to the US by those countries! This then begs the question: Why does Trump, on the one hand, seem not only unbothered by a prospective decline in the dollar's value — he might even actively pursue a reasonable, appropriate decline — but at the same time care so deeply about the dollar's status as the world's primary trading currency?

I then used regional examples to explain why many people hold the socioeconomic misconception that "a strong currency is good, and a weak currency is bad." If many people in the region think this way, then is it not the same for many in the United States? It is well known that while the US produces strong exports, overall, its imports still exceed its exports. This is mainly because the purchasing power of average American consumers is quite astonishing, making the US the largest consumer market in the world. As a result, most export-driven economies worldwide regard exporting to the US as a primary economic goal. This is why Trump's threat of significantly raising tariffs on imports to the US causes so much unease globally.