--- title: What a Crashing U.S. Dollar Means for Your Money description: The U.S. dollar is down roughly 10% since the beginning of the year. Here's what that means for you. authors: - name: Martha C. White role: Writer url: https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/ education: BA, English, Princeton University at_money_since: 2015 articles: 350 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2025-04-25T18:11:50.000Z' modified: '2025-04-25T18:11:50.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News word_count: 838 canonical: https://money.com/us-dollar-value-crashing/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Paper airplane made of money crashing down](https://img.money.com/2025/04/News-Dollar-Crashing.jpg) The market mayhem of the past several weeks hasn't been limited to stocks and bonds. Since the beginning of the year, the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies has tumbled by around 10% from its January peak, with much of the decline taking place after President Donald Trump began implementing a wide range of tariffs. “Investors have been spooked by Trump's recent moves in the global economy, and they’ve moved away from investing in U.S. Treasurys,” says Michael O. Moore, a professor of economics and international affairs at [George Washington University](https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/george-washington-university/). The result? A slumping greenback. ## Make sure that you're not overpaying for Car Insurance ### Click your state to get matched to a top ranked car insurance provider in your area. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/y7c75ade7f1a?ap_referrer=%2Fus-dollar-value-crashing%2F) Quick vocab lesson: A weak dollar means that the value of our money is worth less compared to other major currencies. By contrast, a strong dollar means that our money is worth more. To put it in an exchange-rate scenario, if you wanted to exchange $100 for euros today, you'd get about €88. If you'd exchanged that same $100 back in January when the dollar was high, you'd have gotten about €97. While a lower-value dollar in global currency-market terms isn't the same as an erosion of purchasing power due to inflation, the combination of the two means Americans' budgets are in trouble, according to Michael L. Walden, an economics professor at [North Carolina State University](https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/north-carolina-state-university-at-raleigh/). You might think that if you don't buy or sell stuff internationally, “it’s not a big deal,” he says. But before you breathe a sigh of relief, Walden notes that this isn’t as cut-and-dried as it might seem. Even if you don’t have plans for an international vacation or a new foreign car in your future, you could see price increases in a variety of products from foreign manufacturers. Tariffs are already projected to add $3,800 to the average family's costs this year, according to one [estimate](https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/where-we-stand-fiscal-economic-and-distributional-effects-all-us-tariffs-enacted-2025-through-april). A weak dollar compounds this impact. And unlike tariffs, which can have carve-outs or exclusions, the impact of a weaker dollar hits across the board. “A weaker dollar is going to make everything we import more expensive,” says Dann Ryan, managing partner at Sincerus Advisory. “We’re already seeing people have a little bit of sticker shock,” he says, noting that clients are holding onto their cars for longer and readjusting vacation plans to stay stateside to avoid exposure to fluctuating exchange rates. ## Who would want a weak dollar? The president, for one. Trump has long been a proponent of a weaker dollar, a stance that ties in with his goal of reestablishing American manufacturing prowess. "As your President, one would think that I would be thrilled with our very strong dollar. I am not!" he posted on Twitter (now called X) in [2019](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/business/weak-dollar-yuan-devaluation.html). In theory, a weak dollar boosts the fortunes of companies — and the people who work for them — that sell goods exported and purchased in other parts of the world, because those exports become cheaper to buy when the dollar is weak. In reality, trade experts say it's not that simple. Decades of globalization have tied American industries to overseas partners and suppliers. The international nature of automotive, electronics and other manufacturing supply chains means that even products nominally made here probably include imported raw materials or components. On top of that, Trump’s trade war has raised the prospect of companies implementing reciprocal tariffs on American imports in retaliation to the White House’s policies. Burgeoning anti-American sentiment could also depress U.S. exports, with [evidence](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/04/18/us-tourism-travel-trump/) of a falloff in international tourism one early indication. ## Experts warn of potential long-term economic damage Pricier cars and canceled travel bookings aren’t even the worst of it. “For a long time, the U.S.’s biggest export has been Treasurys,” or government-issued debt, Ryan says. “Tied into that has been a sense of stability and confidence — and that’s just been shaken.” U.S. Treasurys have enjoyed the status of being the world’s de facto safe haven for the past several decades, which allows the government to run deficits and issue new debt more easily and cheaply compared to other countries (even during periods of global economic turbulence). “Safety is a relative thing. If all options are bad, the U.S. is a better place to be,” Moore says. A chaotic rollout and ever-shifting pronouncements on tariffs are prompting investors to reexamine that conventional wisdom. “The direction of this change is not normal — chaos and uncertainty usually drive investors to the dollar and not away from it,” Peter Petri, professor emeritus of international finance at the Brandeis International Business School, says via email. “The dollar is usually seen as the world's safest currency. But today's uncertainty is so closely tied to U.S. markets that other currencies and even gold look like safer bets," he says. "None of this is good for U.S. consumers, so let's hope that the dollar's decline stops." ## Reduce payments and make debt manageable with a Debt Relief program ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/7279cfde6959?bidid=4086051151&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667937303&ptoken=d560e0eb3367810d84af27b293d9958c) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/23879/medium_3847e650-29eb-411b-9b8c-05deb0d02cbc.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/e95a7b9df540?bidid=4086051152&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667937303&ptoken=18df33c412b7be26ee774805e94844e3) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/15565/medium_832cc4b7-74f8-4735-8fe1-6917816cbe8d.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/305406ad31e8?bidid=4086051150&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667937303&ptoken=108fb273e585ac85fd5f72be9669748d) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/22445/medium_ba73f26a-1e1e-4e49-9739-df1298783de6.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/f460645b9964?bidid=4086051155&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667937303&ptoken=5b446eda549dc128b56a2bb589cb4c20) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/9246/medium_94931930-28cf-46b5-b09d-683979caec81.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/fba0d11b5933?bidid=4086051153&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=667937303&ptoken=049e884113cbc785f3cb1e371d36e0ec) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! 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