Referencing yesterday’s agreement between Brazil and China to carry out trade and financial transactions directly, either in Chinese yuan or Brazilian reais, and without the U.S. dollar as an intermediary, Global Times on March 30 pointed to the broader phenomenon, of a growing number of countries moving toward de-dollarization, seeking to trade in non-dollar currencies and to diversify their foreign exchange reserves.
The semi-official daily argues that this is due to the fact that the dollar has deviated from its post-Bretton Woods role as a dominant payment, settlement and investment vehicle, and now operates instead as “a tool of political blackmail and coercion.” What does such weaponization of dollar hegemony mean? It allows the U.S. to arbitrarily impose unilateral sanctions on other countries, but “can also harvest global wealth and export its own risks to the rest of the world through irresponsible monetary policies.”
