Section 899: One Year Later — The Warning Still Matters

 Section 899: One Year Later — The Warning Still Matters

An update to my June 2025 post

I reshared my article about Section 899 today because, a year later, I think the questions it raised are even more important.

When I wrote that piece in June 2025, I argued that Section 899 wasn't simply about taxes. It was about trust — and what happens when the United States begins using its enormous financial power as a political weapon.

There is an important correction: Section 899 ultimately did not become law. It was removed from the final legislation after pressure from U.S. allies, including the G7.

But the bigger issue didn't disappear.

Now we're hearing renewed discussion about the U.S. dollar's role as the world's reserve currency — including arguments from JD Vance questioning whether that status has actually benefited ordinary Americans.

And this is where I think we need to pay attention.

The dollar's reserve status is one of the greatest sources of American economic power. Countries hold dollars. Governments hold U.S. Treasury securities. Businesses conduct international trade in dollars. Investors around the world treat U.S. financial markets as a relatively safe place to put their money.

That system depends on something you can't legislate: trust.

You can impose tariffs.

You can impose sanctions.

You can threaten retaliatory taxes.

You can pressure other countries economically.

But you cannot order another country to trust you.

Eventually, countries and investors make their own calculations.

They can diversify their reserves.
They can trade in other currencies.
They can build alternative payment systems.
They can reduce their dependence on the American financial system.

None of this means the U.S. dollar is suddenly going to disappear. It doesn't mean the American economy is collapsing tomorrow.

But it does mean something worth watching:

The world's financial system is built on confidence, and confidence can change slowly — until suddenly it doesn't.

That's what concerned me about Section 899.

The provision itself may be gone, but the underlying question remains:

How much economic power can a country use against its allies before that power starts encouraging those allies to build alternatives?

And here's the part that really matters to ordinary people.

If the United States loses some of the financial advantages that come with being the world's dominant reserve currency, the consequences aren't limited to Wall Street or Washington.

They can eventually affect borrowing costs, government debt, investment, currencies, trade and the prices people pay for everyday necessities.

So when politicians debate tariffs, sanctions, currencies and economic warfare, I don't think we should only ask:

“Who wins today?”

We should also ask:

“What happens to the system five or ten years from now?”

I wrote Section 899: Break Global Trust last year as a warning.

I'm resharing it today because I still think the central issue is the same:

Once trust in a financial system begins to erode, rebuilding it is much harder than destroying it.

Maybe Section 899 was only one chapter.

Maybe the bigger story is just beginning.

— Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

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