A clerk counts renminbi yuan banknotes in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/IC]

　　By disrupting global trade and triggering recession risks, the United States' new tariff push may have an unintended result of giving rise to alternative international currencies, including the Chinese renminbi, also known as the yuan, experts said.

　　“To supply global dollar liquidity, the US must run trade deficits,“ said Guan Tao, global chief economist at investment bank BOCI China.

　　“As Washington seeks to reduce deficits through 'reciprocal tariffs', global dollar liquidity will tighten, weakening the dollar's international standing,“ said Guan.

　　Guan said that confidence in the greenback has been eroding as the latest additional tariffs — expected to take effect on Wednesday and include a 10 percent “minimum baseline tariff“ and higher rates on certain trading partners — damage the international economic governance order.

　　“Last year, both gold and the dollar rose, but this year, gold continued to climb while the dollar weakened. That suggests some US allies may now be voting with their feet.“

　　The US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's value relative to a basket of currencies, was trading at 103.12 as of Tuesday afternoon, down 4.94 percent since the beginning of the year, according to market tracker Wind Info.

　　“The international reserve status of the US dollar may be undermined by the US administration's retrogressive actions,“ said Zhang Ming, deputy director of the Institute of Finance and Banking, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.