Trade Finance and Payments Are at the Service of Her Majesty the Dollar – Trade News | 05/12/25

Globally, trade finance and payment systems — especially those denominated in U.S. dollars — remain the central backbone of foreign trade, with nearly 90 % of global commerce depending on trade financing and dollar-based cross-border payment systems. The U.S. dollar continues to dominate international payments, official reserves, global financial instruments and portfolio assets — reinforcing its role as a global reserve and anchor currency. For developing economies, this means their integration into trade and investment depends heavily on external determinants such as interest rates, dollar liquidity and global financial stability — turning the dollar into both a stabilizer and structural constraint. Meanwhile, the growing “financialization” of commodities and raw materials increasingly dissociates their real-world value from financial markets: many leading commodity traders derive over 70 % of their earnings from financial derivatives rather than actual physical trade. Link to Article