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  • For the last few years, increasing numbers of commentators, including Max Keiser, have

  • been predicting the collapse of the US dollar, a collapse that could be closer than you think.

  • America currently faces a very real, impending threat -- China.

  • China accounts for more global trade than anyone else on the planet, and most of that

  • trade happens in US dollars keeping demand for the dollar high and overseas trade at

  • low costs.

  • Not only this, but China holds around 1.3 trillion dollars of US debt. A debt accumulated

  • by China's stockpile of dollars from international trade which they lend back to the US at ridiculously

  • low interest rates.

  • But what happens if China decide to stop playing the game? Well, in some respects they already

  • have.

  • In November 2013, The People's Bank of China announced the country's new plan. Yi Gang,

  • deputy governor of the Central Bank explained that, "It's no longer in China's favour to

  • accumulate foreign-exchange reserves."

  • This means they won't be buying anymore US debt. Bad news America.

  • And this isn't the only move China is making. China has plans to have about a third of its

  • foreign trade settled in yuan, the country's currency in 2015.

  • The US dollar is the world's reserve currency meaning it is held in significant quantities

  • by governments and institutions for foreign exchange and is most importantly used for

  • the majority of oil trades coined the petrodollar system which has been enforced since the 1970s

  • and the US has a track record of toppling any country that tries to act against it.

  • BUT over the past year China has been teaming up with countries around the world to dispel

  • trading in US dollars. It's a game changer.

  • In February 2013, the US imposed sanctions restricting Iran's ability to trade with international

  • entities and with China being Iran's top trade partner the country has been able to flood

  • Iran with cheap consumer goods in exchange for oil. China is able to take advantage of

  • the US's sanctions with some 70 Chinese businesses currently active in Iran which cover not only

  • the oil sector but key trades such construction, transportation and manufacturing.

  • Next up in March China and Brazil agreed to cut out the US dollar for approximately half

  • of their trade followed by Australia in April announcing they would be abandoning the US

  • dollar for trade with China, using Chinese yuan instead.

  • These subtle moves of course make no immediate significant change but in the long-run could

  • have severe consequences for the US government.

  • One big move has surfaced with the collaboration of BRICS - the five big emerging economies

  • of the world; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The countries have come

  • together to work on a new $50bn development bank to rival the World Bank and IMF. The

  • project aims to represent part of a "new paradigm" reflecting a shift in economic power away

  • from the west and provide initial funding for infrastructure projects worth $4.5tn.

  • Questions on the funding and location of this new bank are still pending.

  • Analysts have predicted that China will hold dominance over the other developing countries

  • but why should this be the case? Well, simply they make more global trade and import more

  • oil across the world than anyone else, PLUS there economy is currently about 20 times

  • the size of South Africa's and four times Russia or India. They are big players when

  • it comes to global economic power.

  • The most recent move comes from Russia's annual economic meet in St Petersburg at the beginning

  • of May 2014 where they announced that Gazprom, the Russian state-backed gas giant has signed

  • a $400 billion, 30 year deal to supply gas to China. Trade is predicted to be carried

  • out directly between the countries respective currencies, bypassing the US dollar entirely.

  • All this goes back as far as 2011 when China and Japan agreed to start directing trading

  • of their currencies and similar agreements involving Germany, Chile and the United Arab

  • Emirates have all emerged since.

  • China has spent years accumulating US dollars to keep the value of it up and keep the yuan

  • down enabling cheap international trade. It seems they've changed their mind. China is

  • chipping away at the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency but what will they

  • stockpile instead?

  • The signs point towards gold.

  • How much gold China has is unknown but Bloomberg reported that Switzerland sent more than 80

  • percent of its gold and silver bullion and coin exports to Asia back in January 2014.

  • According to a column on TheGoldStandardNow.org, China surpassed the US five years ago in gold

  • production and five years from now it will own more gold than the US Federal government.

  • The Chinese government has recently removed all restrictions on personal ownership of

  • gold; legalized domestic gold exchange traded funds, is currently purchasing 100% of domestic

  • gold mine production; has imported over 750 tons of gold (27% of global output) in the

  • last 12 months; publicly states its intention to add 1,000 tons per years to its central

  • bank gold reserves; and is buying major stakes in foreign gold mining companies.

  • So could China kill the US dollar?

  • Well, the low interest rates that the US currently enjoy being the world's reserve currency is in jeopardy if other countries around the world decide to stop trading in US dollars.

  • Alternatively, if China decides it's no longer content to holding the 1.3 trillion dollars of a day currently helps US.

  • Well, that's about trouble.

  • With interest rates currently standing at a unfathomable low 2.477% due to being lent

  • money from other countries on the cheap, a rise to just 6% would mean the federal government

  • would be paying out around 3 trillion dollars a year just in national debt.

  • But the biggest issue lies in the 441 trillion dollars sitting in interest rate derivatives,

  • an amount of money bet on the movement of interest rates, which if it continues to soar

  • from moves like this from China big trouble will brew for the US. The four big banks of

  • America; JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs hold around 40 trillion

  • in derivatives each exposing them to devastation should a shift happen.

  • The future depends largely on China and China's agreement to hold US debt and trade in US

  • dollars worldwide. If the world moves away from trading in US dollars, the demand will

  • disappear and the interest rates will explode the entire US financial system into chaos.

For the last few years, increasing numbers of commentators, including Max Keiser, have

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