In this special edition of the Hinrich Foundation’s podcast on global trade, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA sits down with Stewart Paterson, Senior Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, to examine whether the world is moving toward a more fragmented, multi-currency system as US inflation, alternative payment systems, and China’s renminbi ambitions test the dollar’s dominance.

The US dollar has anchored global trade and finance for decades, giving the United States extraordinary leverage over payment infrastructure, sanctions enforcement, and global financial stability. But the foundations of dollar dominance are coming under pressure. Persistent inflation, America’s deteriorating net international investment position, and China’s growing role as the world’s dominant manufacturing power are weakening some of the economic conditions that have long supported the dollar’s centrality.

But dollar dominance is no longer being tested by economics alone. The weaponization of dollar-based financial infrastructure has encouraged China and other economies to explore alternatives, while central bank digital currencies, instant payment networks, and platforms such as mBridge could make non-dollar settlement faster, cheaper, and more commercially viable. China’s renminbi remains constrained by capital controls and a fragile banking system, but its push to build alternative financial infrastructure points to the possibility of a more fragmented monetary order.

Tune in to this podcast as Stewart Paterson, Senior Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, joins the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA to break down the economic, geopolitical, and technological pressures reshaping the dollar’s role in global trade and finance. The podcast follows up on Paterson’s recent paper for the Hinrich Foundation, “Trump 2.0 and dollar dominance: Make or break?”

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