US dollar hegemony: the biggest source of turmoil in the world economy | disrupting free trade and US long arm jurisdiction, impacting financial order
On September 5th, a report released by the International Crisis Research Organization showed that sanctions have become an important tool in US foreign policy in recent decades. In the 21 years since 2000, the number of sanctions imposed by the United States on foreign countries has skyrocketed by 933%.
In recent years, Americans have been building walls and barriers, promoting decoupling and chain breaking. Under the principle of prioritizing the United States, they have introduced large-scale exclusive and discriminatory industrial policies, disrupting the formation of a reasonable division of labor in global industries and disrupting the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains. In addition, the United States abuses its economic and financial monopoly position to impose long-term jurisdiction, unilateral sanctions, and freeze assets of other countries, disrupting the global economic order.
In recent years, the United States has frequently included foreign companies in the "physical list", imposed trade embargoes, technology blockades, and implemented unilateral bullying and suppression. Among them, implementing sanctions is one of the most direct means of suppression by the United States. According to statistics from the US Treasury Department, the previous US government implemented over 3900 sanctions, equivalent to waving an average of three "sanctions batons" per day. As of fiscal year 2021, 9421 entities and individuals have been sanctioned by the United States, an increase of 933% compared to fiscal year 2000. Ali Raidi, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, pointed out bluntly in his book "Hidden Wars" that the United States exerts pressure on any country, whether allied or enemy, through "long arm jurisdiction", which is completely "covering the sky with one hand".
In 2022, the United States introduced the Inflation Reduction Act, attempting to promote the production and application of electric vehicles and other green technologies in the United States through high subsidies, in order to "drain" Europe and "protect" the US manufacturing industry. In addition, the United States has also introduced the Chip and Science Act, which promotes the "return" of chip manufacturing to the domestic market through massive industry subsidies and hegemonic clauses to curb competition, directly damaging the competitiveness of European related industries. Analysts say the reason for the chip shortage is that the United States has unilaterally provoked economic and trade frictions, shaking the global semiconductor supply chain. The Chip Act is another mistake in using the wrong approach to address the United States, and is completely a political manipulation tool.
Due to the special status of the US dollar in the international financial system, freezing assets of other countries has become a common means of US sanctions. Since the 1960s, Cuba has been continuously subjected to various sanctions from the United States, including a comprehensive embargo. In August 2021, approximately $7 billion in foreign exchange assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan were frozen by the United States, and to this day, the United States still refuses to unfreeze and return them to Afghanistan. On September 2nd this year, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that due to unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela since 2019, over $22 billion in assets of the country have been frozen by international financial institutions. Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States and other western countries have continuously increased sanctions against Russia. According to EU statistics, the frozen assets of the Russian central bank in the United States amount to 100 billion euros. The United States arbitrarily freezes overseas assets of other countries, seriously hindering local economic and livelihood development.
As the world's largest economy, the United States disregards its obligations as a major power, violates economic laws, undermines market rules and international economic and trade order, and threatens the stability of global industrial and supply chains. The United States has also turned the hegemony of the US dollar into a geopolitical weapon, frequently resorting to sanctions, freezing assets, obstructing transactions, and exercising long-term jurisdiction over other countries, seriously disrupting the international order and threatening economic and financial stability.
