Senator warns China has been keeping a close eye on U.S. debt crisis

A strong U.S. dollar secures three advantages for Americans: lower prices, cheaper government debt and global power. If it loses strength, so does the American consumer. Keeping the dollar as the world's reserve currency maximizes American buying power globally, meaning Americans buy more from other countries for less. That includes wood to build houses, steel to build cars and food to eat. Some will argue that maintaining our status as the global reserve currency makes American goods more expensive abroad, discouraging other countries from buying from us; but the data tells a different story. Thanks in part to President Trump's trade policies, exports have increased 23%, adjusted for inflation, since he first took office in 2017—all while the dollar maintained reserve-currency status. And while Congress's multi-trillion-dollar deficit spending needs to end, the U.S. has avoided economic catastrophe only because we made a priority of preserving the dollar's reserve status. Everyone—individuals, corporations and governments—trusts the dollar and trusts that the Treasury will always honor its debt, which allows the U.S. to finance our $40 trillion debt Without reserve-currency status, America would be weaker, families would have less opportunity, and China would get a golden opportunity to rewrite and isolate American businesses on the world stage. Beijing has already made it clear it's watching our debt situation closely. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is the senior senator from Florida. Related