February 28, 2025 • 9 mins
President Trump's unconventional policies and high-stakes manoeuvres have shaken up global trade and security, now Wall Street is wondering if the global financial system may be next. The concept has been called the "Mar-a-Lago Accord" and its aim would be to weaken the US dollar to help American exporters. But the idea faces hurdles and pitfalls, so what would be involved in a "Mar-a-Lago Accord"? Our Global Economics Correspondent, Enda Curran, joins host Caroline Hepker to discuss.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Caroline Hepkee, and this is Here's Why, where we
take one news story and explain it in just a
few minutes with our experts here at Bloomberg. Most followers
of US politics now know Mara Lago, the Summer Residents,
and bolthole of President Donald Trump. But financial markets are
(00:29):
starting to talk about the resort for a different reason.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It's about taking your creditors into a room for the
United States of America and actually saying you've got to
swap your treasuries for long term debt. Now, this is radical.
Nobody's saying that this is actually going to happen.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Now, why are we doing this? The idea is to
reorient to trade the world global trade system, which we
seem to be trying to do with tariffs, to bring
down the value of the dollar, to bring down interest rates,
and to make the US more competitive. That's what goal is.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
I don't think anybody's really taken a really creative approach
to problem solving with regard to this debt and what
we're seeing out of the Trump administration and so many
different parts is a very creative and new thought approach.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Trump is rewiring global trade with threats of tariffs. He's
upended geopolitics, NATO, and the global security framework. Given the
presidents unconventional at high stakes maneuvers, some on Wall Street
are wondering if the international financial system may be next.
The concept of deliberately weakening the US dollar to help
(01:35):
the American economy is causing a stir in the markets.
So here's why the idea of a Mara Largo accord
has everyone's attention. Our global economy correspondent Endacuren joins US
now to explain, Hi, Ender, what is this phrase Mara
Lago accord and where is it come from?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
At its core, it's all about how President Donald Trump
wants to shake up the way the US trades with
the rest of the world, and at the core of
that is the US dollar as America's currency, and that's
driving speculation that perhaps President Trump will look for some
kind of a grand multinational bargain that would effectively end
with a weaker US dollar that would help US exporters
(02:21):
style produce around the rest of the world. And the
name that some analysts are calling it is they'redubbing it
the Marri Lago accord. After Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Florida.
As I say, this is all early days and it's speculation,
but the thinking is that at some point President Trump
will turn his attention towards the currency and look for
some kind of a big deal on that front.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Okay, So that's on weakening the dollar. What could this
possible concept agreement attempt to accomplish beyond that?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So here's the thing. The US trade deficit has blown
out hit a record one point two trillion dollars in
twenty twenty four. President Trump is not happy with that.
He sees that as Americas sending money abroad. Part of
the story here is that the dollar is historically strong
that undermines US competitiveness by making imports cheaper and of
(03:11):
course at the cost of their own exporters. And in fact,
some analysts in the currency market look at the dollar
today as being overvalued when you say base it on
a domestic purchasing power of a currency. Now, when you
consider all of that, the thinking is that President Trump
might at some point get his advisors together and say,
how could we meaningfully weaken the dollar to help our exporters.
(03:34):
And that's where you get into the mechanics of how
this might work.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Indeed, how could a Marl Largo agreement work?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So there are different ways of approaching it. One simple
way would be that America would reach an agreement with
key trading partners, asking those trading partners to boost domestic
consumption of their own goods that they produce rather than
sell their goods overseas at a cheaper price into America.
That would reduce their manufacturers or alliance on exporting TODs
(04:02):
for example. And one case in point there, of course,
would be China. It's a focus for its exports and
huge manufacturing base and the fact that it's able to
export at a competitive price compared to with the US counterparts.
So the thinking is, look, you foreign trading partners, buy
more of your own stuff for adam seller to US.
That's one way to rebalance it. Another way, of course,
(04:22):
could be to intervene in the foreign exchange of market.
Get your trading partners to agree on either buying their
own currency to make it stronger, selling the dollar to
help weaken the dollar. But you know, the foreign exchange
market is worth around seven point five trillion, so it
would take a lot of buying and spending of currencies
to really make adent in that. And then there are
some other leavers and tools that governments could pull, But
(04:45):
you know, it all comes down to what levers could
they agree on that would effectively weaken the uslar and
strengthen their own currencies.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Have similar accords been agreed before?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yes, In nineteen eighty five we had what was called
the Plaza Accord that was named after the hotel in
New York where officials met, and it was a broadly
similar backdrop and idea. The story back then was high inflation,
high interest rates, and a strong dollar, so the US
needed an agreement with At that time it was France, Japan,
UK and then West Germany that they would allow their
(05:17):
currencies to strengthen against the dollar and allowed the dollar
to a weekend, because the thinking was back then that
the strong greenback was hurting the global economy. Now, of course,
back then the central casting villain, so to speak, was
Japan because they were dominating the manufacturing and export market.
They were sparking protections and backlash from US lawmakers in
(05:39):
a way that Chinese today. So Japan came on and
signed on to that agreement. Though that deal was later
blamed in part for some of Japan's own economic demise.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
What did different investors think about this idea?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
There are a couple of ways of thinking about it.
On the one hand, it's still very early. Investors say
a lot of this is speculation. To be clear, President
Trump and his officials do talk about the need for
a strong continuing the strong dollar policy of the US,
for example. On the other hand, though the same investors
will say, you know, President Trump is serious about shaking
(06:16):
up the way the US is doing business with key
trading partners. He's already proven to be unconventional with some
of his policy decisions and announcements. His Treasury Secretary Scott
Besant has before he took office, spoken of the need
for some kind of a grand economic reordering. So at
the very least, the idea that Trump and his officials
won't be thinking about what they could do around a
(06:38):
strong dollar doesn't sound completely implausible. But that's where, you know,
the rubber hits the road when it comes down to
what exact levers can the US pull, How effective would
it be, How realistic is it that they could agree
in accord with trading partners, and indeed trading rivals to
allow a dollar a week and in their currency strengthen.
On paper it sounds duable, but in practice be very difficult.
(07:00):
One to get across the line.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
There's another market that could be affected, the US treasury market,
the debt market. What would be the consequences of restructuring that.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So one of the ideas could be that the US
government could issue government bonds that don't pay interests, so
called zero coupon, and they mature in one hundred years.
Some people out there, for example, former Credit Swiel analyst
Sultan Pozner, is one of those who've made the suggestion
of maybe an agreement when the US and its military
partners whereby in return for a security guarantee, allies are
(07:33):
required by these zero centry bonds. And what would that do?
It would take pressure off the US repayment schedule, take
pressure off the US integrate profile industrate burden, which of
course is one of the key expense out lays for
the government right now, and it could be bundled up
as part of his whole grand package of a Mari
Largo record. As I say, you know, these are all
(07:53):
talking points, these are what Alas say could be done.
But getting all of these agreed, it seems to be
I think, a way of just yet, So.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
What are the downsides to this agreement, if any, and
who would have to deal with them.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So when we had the Plows Accord back in nineteen
eighty five, it sounded like a good idea at the time,
and Japan signed on, but ultimately they blamed it for
allowing the end to become too strong, and that played
a role in Japan's own economic demise, and in fact
they had to follow up with another agreement, the Lure
of Accord, in nineteen eighty seven, to try and draw
a line under that. So there's history that these accords
(08:29):
don't necessarily work according to plan. And then more practically,
for American consumers under one hand, right now they have
a strong currency that means they can buy products from
around the world at a competitive price, and of course
when they travel and go overseas, it's a good time
to go on holidays. A weaker currency means they're going
to be importing higher prices. That means, of course, potentially
(08:50):
higher inflation, and that will erode their purchasing power. And
if we did get to a point where the dollar
was weakening, sharply, it might lose some of its appeal.
For foreign investors who don't like volati, they like strength
and strong currencies, they like stability, they might look at
maybe alternative assets, maybe the Euro, maybe elsewhere. That's if
the US dollar was to get into a weakening spiral.
(09:10):
Those are some of the downsides that could come out
of an agreement like this.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Thanks to our Global Economy correspondent and a current for
more explanations like this from our team of three thousand
journalists and alys around the world, search for Quick Take
on the Bloomberg website or Bloomberg Business app. I'm Caroline Hepga.
This is his why. We'll be back next week with more.
Thanks for listening.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Caroline Hepkee, and this is Here's Why, where we
take one news story and explain it in just a
few minutes with our experts here at Bloomberg. Most followers
of US politics now know Mara Lago, the Summer Residents,
and bolthole of President Donald Trump. But financial markets are
(00:29):
starting to talk about the resort for a different reason.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It's about taking your creditors into a room for the
United States of America and actually saying you've got to
swap your treasuries for long term debt. Now, this is radical.
Nobody's saying that this is actually going to happen.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Now, why are we doing this? The idea is to
reorient to trade the world global trade system, which we
seem to be trying to do with tariffs, to bring
down the value of the dollar, to bring down interest rates,
and to make the US more competitive. That's what goal is.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
I don't think anybody's really taken a really creative approach
to problem solving with regard to this debt and what
we're seeing out of the Trump administration and so many
different parts is a very creative and new thought approach.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Trump is rewiring global trade with threats of tariffs. He's
upended geopolitics, NATO, and the global security framework. Given the
presidents unconventional at high stakes maneuvers, some on Wall Street
are wondering if the international financial system may be next.
The concept of deliberately weakening the US dollar to help
(01:35):
the American economy is causing a stir in the markets.
So here's why the idea of a Mara Largo accord
has everyone's attention. Our global economy correspondent Endacuren joins US
now to explain, Hi, Ender, what is this phrase Mara
Lago accord and where is it come from?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
At its core, it's all about how President Donald Trump
wants to shake up the way the US trades with
the rest of the world, and at the core of
that is the US dollar as America's currency, and that's
driving speculation that perhaps President Trump will look for some
kind of a grand multinational bargain that would effectively end
with a weaker US dollar that would help US exporters
(02:21):
style produce around the rest of the world. And the
name that some analysts are calling it is they'redubbing it
the Marri Lago accord. After Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Florida.
As I say, this is all early days and it's speculation,
but the thinking is that at some point President Trump
will turn his attention towards the currency and look for
some kind of a big deal on that front.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Okay, So that's on weakening the dollar. What could this
possible concept agreement attempt to accomplish beyond that?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So here's the thing. The US trade deficit has blown
out hit a record one point two trillion dollars in
twenty twenty four. President Trump is not happy with that.
He sees that as Americas sending money abroad. Part of
the story here is that the dollar is historically strong
that undermines US competitiveness by making imports cheaper and of
(03:11):
course at the cost of their own exporters. And in fact,
some analysts in the currency market look at the dollar
today as being overvalued when you say base it on
a domestic purchasing power of a currency. Now, when you
consider all of that, the thinking is that President Trump
might at some point get his advisors together and say,
how could we meaningfully weaken the dollar to help our exporters.
(03:34):
And that's where you get into the mechanics of how
this might work.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Indeed, how could a Marl Largo agreement work?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So there are different ways of approaching it. One simple
way would be that America would reach an agreement with
key trading partners, asking those trading partners to boost domestic
consumption of their own goods that they produce rather than
sell their goods overseas at a cheaper price into America.
That would reduce their manufacturers or alliance on exporting TODs
(04:02):
for example. And one case in point there, of course,
would be China. It's a focus for its exports and
huge manufacturing base and the fact that it's able to
export at a competitive price compared to with the US counterparts.
So the thinking is, look, you foreign trading partners, buy
more of your own stuff for adam seller to US.
That's one way to rebalance it. Another way, of course,
(04:22):
could be to intervene in the foreign exchange of market.
Get your trading partners to agree on either buying their
own currency to make it stronger, selling the dollar to
help weaken the dollar. But you know, the foreign exchange
market is worth around seven point five trillion, so it
would take a lot of buying and spending of currencies
to really make adent in that. And then there are
some other leavers and tools that governments could pull, But
(04:45):
you know, it all comes down to what levers could
they agree on that would effectively weaken the uslar and
strengthen their own currencies.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Have similar accords been agreed before?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yes, In nineteen eighty five we had what was called
the Plaza Accord that was named after the hotel in
New York where officials met, and it was a broadly
similar backdrop and idea. The story back then was high inflation,
high interest rates, and a strong dollar, so the US
needed an agreement with At that time it was France, Japan,
UK and then West Germany that they would allow their
(05:17):
currencies to strengthen against the dollar and allowed the dollar
to a weekend, because the thinking was back then that
the strong greenback was hurting the global economy. Now, of course,
back then the central casting villain, so to speak, was
Japan because they were dominating the manufacturing and export market.
They were sparking protections and backlash from US lawmakers in
(05:39):
a way that Chinese today. So Japan came on and
signed on to that agreement. Though that deal was later
blamed in part for some of Japan's own economic demise.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
What did different investors think about this idea?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
There are a couple of ways of thinking about it.
On the one hand, it's still very early. Investors say
a lot of this is speculation. To be clear, President
Trump and his officials do talk about the need for
a strong continuing the strong dollar policy of the US,
for example. On the other hand, though the same investors
will say, you know, President Trump is serious about shaking
(06:16):
up the way the US is doing business with key
trading partners. He's already proven to be unconventional with some
of his policy decisions and announcements. His Treasury Secretary Scott
Besant has before he took office, spoken of the need
for some kind of a grand economic reordering. So at
the very least, the idea that Trump and his officials
won't be thinking about what they could do around a
(06:38):
strong dollar doesn't sound completely implausible. But that's where, you know,
the rubber hits the road when it comes down to
what exact levers can the US pull, How effective would
it be, How realistic is it that they could agree
in accord with trading partners, and indeed trading rivals to
allow a dollar a week and in their currency strengthen.
On paper it sounds duable, but in practice be very difficult.
(07:00):
One to get across the line.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
There's another market that could be affected, the US treasury market,
the debt market. What would be the consequences of restructuring that.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So one of the ideas could be that the US
government could issue government bonds that don't pay interests, so
called zero coupon, and they mature in one hundred years.
Some people out there, for example, former Credit Swiel analyst
Sultan Pozner, is one of those who've made the suggestion
of maybe an agreement when the US and its military
partners whereby in return for a security guarantee, allies are
(07:33):
required by these zero centry bonds. And what would that do?
It would take pressure off the US repayment schedule, take
pressure off the US integrate profile industrate burden, which of
course is one of the key expense out lays for
the government right now, and it could be bundled up
as part of his whole grand package of a Mari
Largo record. As I say, you know, these are all
(07:53):
talking points, these are what Alas say could be done.
But getting all of these agreed, it seems to be
I think, a way of just yet, So.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
What are the downsides to this agreement, if any, and
who would have to deal with them.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
So when we had the Plows Accord back in nineteen
eighty five, it sounded like a good idea at the time,
and Japan signed on, but ultimately they blamed it for
allowing the end to become too strong, and that played
a role in Japan's own economic demise, and in fact
they had to follow up with another agreement, the Lure
of Accord, in nineteen eighty seven, to try and draw
a line under that. So there's history that these accords
(08:29):
don't necessarily work according to plan. And then more practically,
for American consumers under one hand, right now they have
a strong currency that means they can buy products from
around the world at a competitive price, and of course
when they travel and go overseas, it's a good time
to go on holidays. A weaker currency means they're going
to be importing higher prices. That means, of course, potentially
(08:50):
higher inflation, and that will erode their purchasing power. And
if we did get to a point where the dollar
was weakening, sharply, it might lose some of its appeal.
For foreign investors who don't like volati, they like strength
and strong currencies, they like stability, they might look at
maybe alternative assets, maybe the Euro, maybe elsewhere. That's if
the US dollar was to get into a weakening spiral.
(09:10):
Those are some of the downsides that could come out
of an agreement like this.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Thanks to our Global Economy correspondent and a current for
more explanations like this from our team of three thousand
journalists and alys around the world, search for Quick Take
on the Bloomberg website or Bloomberg Business app. I'm Caroline Hepga.
This is his why. We'll be back next week with more.
Thanks for listening.
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