The Trump adviser who wants to rewrite the global financial system
Ali BEKHTAOUI and Nina ISENI in Washington Wed, April 16, 2025
One of the architects of US President Donald Trump's tariff blitz has advocated a shake-up of the global trade and financial systems, centred on a radical strategy to weaken the dollar.
Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, outlined his idea in a 41-page essay titled "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System".
Little known until now, the Harvard-trained economist's paper published in November after Trump's election win has garnered attention in recent weeks due to its emphasis on tariffs and a weak dollar.
Some analysts say the essay provides the intellectual rationale for Trump's trade war.
‘Mar-a-Lago Accord'
For Miran, tariffs and moving away from a strong dollar could have "the broadest ramifications of any policies in decades, fundamentally reshaping the global trade and financial systems".
Miran's essay argues that a strong dollar makes US exports less competitive and imports cheaper, while handicapping American manufacturers as it discourages investing in building factories in the United States.
"The deep unhappiness with the prevailing economic order is rooted in persistent overvaluation of the dollar and asymmetric trade conditions," Miran wrote.
The dollar is traditionally a safe haven currency for investors in the event of war or crisis, and it has slumped in recent days over concerns about Trump's trade policies.
It is used by used by foreign companies and governments to buy oil, aircraft and other goods at dollar-denominated prices.
The strong dollar tends to make US government bonds attractive to foreign investors, giving the United States an almost unlimited capacity to borrow.
Miran called for a pact similar to that of the 1985 Plaza Accord, signed in New York by the United States, Britain, France, West Germany and Japan.
The landmark agreement, named after the New York hotel where it was inked, allowed for a controlled weakening of the then-overvalued dollar to reduce the US trade deficit.
Miran said the new agreement could be called the "Mar-a-Lago Accord", after Trump's Florida resort.
"President Trump views tariffs as generating negotiating leverage for making deals," Miran wrote.
"It is easier to imagine that after a series of punitive tariffs, trading partners like Europe and China become more receptive to some manner of currency accord in exchange for a reduction of tariffs."
-Replenish government coffers-
To lower the value of the US currency, Miran said US partners could sell dollars in their possession.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-adviser-wants-rewrite-global-154157647.html