The U.S. government recently initiated an investigation under Section 301 of the US Trade Act 1974, which is a powerful trade enforcement tool that allows the United States to act against foreign policies that the government considers to burden or restrict American commerce.
(Image: Canva)
The U.S. government’s imposition of tariffs on other economies may prove futile in the long term, albeit constructive short-term performance on alleviating, to a certain extent, the deficit in the Federal Reserve, resulting in cracks in the American domestic consumerism space and its relations with other countries.
This regulatory phenomenon with the oil wars show:
there is immense stress on the current U.S. government to deliver and make America great again, economically-speaking.
In recent years, the U.S. dollar-backed system has been lacking lustre in its fiscal performance, which heralds the need for innovative reforms to mitigate the risk of being outdated.
The call for global fiscal policies to align with the present socio-political and economic landscape, factoring in vacillating leadership and current geopolitical risks imminently bubbling between the East and West, must essentially involve the International Monetary Fund’s consideration to re-position the global economy to a tripartite fiscal approach which may prove to be a lifeline as a “backed generator” to an anachronistic currency system.
The International Monetary Fund should work with its member economies to prepare consultation papers and white paper reforms on the current dollar-backed system and transition into a potential resource based backed fiscal system, which is not tied to volatility or virtual currencies such as cryptocurrency (albeit a high-risk-and-high-reward system), where such resource-based fiscal system may be tied to gold.
If the International Monetary Fund holds such an initiative, such engagement is particularly relevant for all economies which have a stake in the dollar system, whether in Treasury bills or otherwise. Essentially, whether every other country, whether significantly-scaled or otherwise, thrives or suffers, directly or indirectly, depends on when the U.S. economy thrives or suffers (as the case may be). For better or worse, every country should be at the table to share their interests, and listen, to promote harmony in the global economic ecosystem.
This author encourages a resource-based backed fiscal system to back the traditional currency system and proposes the hybrid use of renewable sources of energy to align with environmental, social and governance factors while limiting non-exhaustive circulation of such resources to sustain the economy.
This author further encourages the revival of certain aspects of the barter-trade system and its reconvergence with the paper-based system to further strengthen the global economy, particularly, all dollar-backed economies, considering North America’s latest central bank policies.
Author’s Profile
Victoria Wah, Corporate Lawyer
(Photo: Victoria Wah)
Victoria Wah is a corporate lawyer, an accredited international mediator and an adjunct law lecturer and principal examiner. Her legal practice areas comprise of mergers and acquisitions, private equity, investment funds, venture capital, capital markets, investment funds, employment, commercial and corporate regulatory compliance.
Victoria was nominated, and won, the APAC Insider’s Singapore Business Awards 2026 for the Best Corporate and Commercial Law Firm 2026.
Victoria is currently a Partner at a mid-sized and full-serviced law practice in three locations in the Central Business District, where she manages her own corporate practice to work directly with her clients. The Firm is recognised in the Straits Times Singapore’s Best Law Firms 2025 and Straits Times Singapore’s Best Law Firms 2026 as one of Singapore’s best law firms in eighteen areas of legal practice.
