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Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - Why would the US government ever refuse the US dollar?
In a moment of remarkable irony, Toby Stover vs. United States National Park Service may go down in history as the case that put America's legal tender on trial — at the hands of its own government. At its core, this lawsuit challenges the National Park Service's growing refusal to accept cash — U.S. dollars — at dozens of federally funded national parks. One such site is none other than the historic home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York's Hyde Park. There, a woman offered to pay her entry fee in U.S. currency, clearly marked 'Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private.' Park officials refused. Reflect for a minute on that. The Park Service, a federal agency, is declining to accept money issued by the U.S. Treasury, backed by federal law. And in this instance, it happened at the home of FDR, the very president who, in 1935, ordered the inclusion of the Great Seal of the United States on every dollar bill to bolster confidence during the Great Depression. Today, the federal government refuses to accept those very same bills on the hallowed grounds of his historic residence. According to the plaintiff's May 12 filing in the Washington, D.C., Federal District Court, entrance fees to a national park are bound by the U.S. Treasury's legal tender statute, which states that 'United States coins and currency … are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.' Refusing to accept cash for public entry fees appears to directly violate this statute. The question at hand is not whether the Park Service prefers digital payments — it is whether federal agencies can legally refuse the nation's own money. This isn't a glitch in the system. It's a symptom of a larger, and dangerous, trend. Scores of parks across the country have implemented or are transitioning to 'cashless' payment systems. This includes iconic places like Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Mount Rainier and Lake Mead. Even our more local Great Falls National Park went cashless in January. As the U.S. National Park Service turns its back on cash, however, other federal institutions are moving in the opposite direction. According to the IRS's chief counsel, Taxpayer Assistance Centers are required to accept cash from taxpayers pursuant to federal law. And in the U.S. Congress, Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) recently reintroduced the Payment Choice Act, a bill with bipartisan support that would require retailers to accept cash for purchases of $500 or less in brick-and-mortar establishments. An increasing number of state and local jurisdictions are passing 'cashless bans' in the absence of a federal law, requiring retailers to accept cash to ensure access and inclusion for all consumers and to guarantee essential commercial continuity in times of disaster. So while these local governments affirm cash as a public right, the U.S. National Park Service is refusing the only form of payment that requires no permission, no technology and no third-party intermediary charging fees to facilitate a simple transaction and/or selling your data to other companies. That contradiction should trouble us all. In the Toby Stover case, the National Park Service argues that if visitors can pay digitally, refusing to do so is a 'self-inflicted' injury. This logic is deeply flawed. The right to engage in commercial transactions should not be contingent on smartphone access or digital literacy. Tendering cash is an exercise of one's basic right to permissionless transactions. There is also a practical vulnerability here. Digital systems depend on power and internet connectivity. What happens when the grid goes down following natural disasters, computer glitches or cyberattacks? At many parks, visitors could be turned away, not because they didn't want to pay but because they brought the one form of payment the U.S. government no longer respects — its own currency! Will history remember Toby Stover vs. U.S. National Park Service as the case that helped rescue the dollar's dignity, or as the beginning of its quiet demise? In a democracy built on laws and liberty, the answer matters. Jeff Thinnes is CEO of JTI, Inc., which supports the Payment Choice Coalition, a group of companies advocating for the right to use cash for reasons of resilience, national security, privacy, fairness, safety and freedom of choice. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Why would the US government ever refuse the US dollar?
In a moment of remarkable irony, Toby Stover vs. United States National Park Service may go down in history as the case that put America's legal tender on trial — at the hands of its own government. At its core, this lawsuit challenges the National Park Service's growing refusal to accept cash — U.S. dollars — at dozens of federally funded national parks. One such site is none other than the historic home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York's Hyde Park. There, a woman offered to pay her entry fee in U.S. currency, clearly marked 'Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private.' Park officials refused. Reflect for a minute on that. The Park Service, a federal agency, is declining to accept money issued by the U.S. Treasury, backed by federal law. And in this instance, it happened at the home of FDR, the very president who, in 1935, ordered the inclusion of the Great Seal of the United States on every dollar bill to bolster confidence during the Great Depression. Today, the federal government refuses to accept those very same bills on the hallowed grounds of his historic residence. According to the plaintiff's May 12 filing in the Washington, D.C., Federal District Court, entrance fees to a national park are bound by the U.S. Treasury's legal tender statute, which states that 'United States coins and currency … are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.' Refusing to accept cash for public entry fees appears to directly violate this statute. The question at hand is not whether the Park Service prefers digital payments — it is whether federal agencies can legally refuse the nation's own money. This isn't a glitch in the system. It's a symptom of a larger, and dangerous, trend. Scores of parks across the country have implemented or are transitioning to 'cashless' payment systems. This includes iconic places like Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, Mount Rainier and Lake Mead. Even our more local Great Falls National Park went cashless in January. As the U.S. National Park Service turns its back on cash, however, other federal institutions are moving in the opposite direction. According to the IRS's chief counsel, Taxpayer Assistance Centers are required to accept cash from taxpayers pursuant to federal law. And in the U.S. Congress, Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) recently reintroduced the Payment Choice Act, a bill with bipartisan support that would require retailers to accept cash for purchases of $500 or less in brick-and-mortar establishments. An increasing number of state and local jurisdictions are passing 'cashless bans' in the absence of a federal law, requiring retailers to accept cash to ensure access and inclusion for all consumers and to guarantee essential commercial continuity in times of disaster. So while these local governments affirm cash as a public right, the U.S. National Park Service is refusing the only form of payment that requires no permission, no technology and no third-party intermediary charging fees to facilitate a simple transaction and/or selling your data to other companies. That contradiction should trouble us all. In the Toby Stover case, the National Park Service argues that if visitors can pay digitally, refusing to do so is a 'self-inflicted' injury. This logic is deeply flawed. The right to engage in commercial transactions should not be contingent on smartphone access or digital literacy. Tendering cash is an exercise of one's basic right to permissionless transactions. There is also a practical vulnerability here. Digital systems depend on power and internet connectivity. What happens when the grid goes down following natural disasters, computer glitches or cyberattacks? At many parks, visitors could be turned away, not because they didn't want to pay but because they brought the one form of payment the U.S. government no longer respects — its own currency! Will history remember Toby Stover vs. U.S. National Park Service as the case that helped rescue the dollar's dignity, or as the beginning of its quiet demise? In a democracy built on laws and liberty, the answer matters. Jeff Thinnes is CEO of JTI, Inc., which supports the Payment Choice Coalition, a group of companies advocating for the right to use cash for reasons of resilience, national security, privacy, fairness, safety and freedom of choice.
The Hill
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Penny production to end: Should you start stocking up?
(NEXSTAR) — The U.S. appears poised to ditch the penny, with recent reports saying the U.S. Treasury made its final order of penny blanks in May. With no new blanks on the way, the U.S. Mint is reportedly producing the last new pennies the country may ever see. You may feel inclined to rush out and purchase a few rolls of one-cent coins and stash them away, either to use to cover oddly-priced purchases or for a potential payout from collectors. Generally speaking, you may not have to do either. What are wheat pennies, and why are they sometimes worth thousands? While a wind-down plan for the use of the penny hasn't officially been released, it may be similar to the process followed in Canada, which parted ways with its penny in the early 2010s for the same reasons U.S. officials have expressed. At the time, the Royal Canadian Mint essentially put the distribution process in reverse, collecting pennies from financial institutions and charities. Collected and turned-in pennies were melted down and their valuable metals were extracted. Meanwhile, consumers started to see their cash transactions rounded to the nearest nickel. For instance, a $19.82 purchase becomes $19.80 while $19.83 becomes $19.85. Payments with checks or debit or credit cards are not rounded, however. The U.S. appears likely to do the same, a Treasury spokesperson indicated to the Wall Street Journal. Pennies remain legal tender in Canada, though you may be hard pressed to find them. That does not, however, make them an immensely valuable collector's item. A decade after Canada stopped producing its penny, collectors said there was no notable spike in the coin's value. Todd Sandham, owner of a coin and jewelry shop in Ontario, told Canadian outlet CTV News in 2023 that even someone who brought in a jar of pennies to sell would 'get about a penny and a half for them.' Experts at All About Coins in Salt Lake City recently told Nexstar's KTVX they would expect the same to happen in the U.S. 'I don't think that we're ever going to see a day where like a 2024 penny is going to be worth so much more,' store clerk Casey Hackford-Peer explained. 'Maybe in 200, 300 years, but not in my lifetime.' What to know about the $1,000-per-child 'Trump accounts' In a 2022 report from the Federal Reserve, officials warned that 'drastically reducing or ending the production of the penny' could lead to a 'significant flowback of coin from consumers and businesses seeking to turn in their pennies.' The same report suggested, however, that reducing penny production could save the Mint up to $100 million annually. A bipartisan bill to halt penny production was recently introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). It was one of a handful of bills that have been brought forth since President Donald Trump called one-cent coins 'wasteful.' In a statement to Nexstar last week, Merkley said he was 'pleased' by the Treasury's reported actions and said 'ending penny production is the right thing to do.' He warned, however, that it should be done 'the right way.' 'If President Trump is serious about ending this wasteful spending—with each penny costing 4 times more to mint than it's worth — he should work with Congress to take up necessary legislation, like my bipartisan bill with Senator Mike Lee,' Merkley said. 'It's time to make sense, not cents.'
Kyodo News
12 hours ago
- Business
- Kyodo News
Japan, U.S. agree tariff talks making progress toward deal
By Takuya Karube, KYODO NEWS - 3 hours ago - 12:33 | All, World Japan's chief tariff negotiator said Friday that he and U.S. Cabinet members agreed in their talks that they are making progress toward a potential tariff deal as early as June. After a meeting in Washington with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's minister in charge of economic revitalization, told reporters that they plan to hold another round of negotiations before a Group of Seven summit in mid-June. Akazawa noted, however, that Tokyo's stance to demand the United States remove all its additional tariffs on Japanese imports has not changed, and that he urged them to do so in his fourth round of talks with the United States, which lasted more than two hours. "If that can be met, we may be able to agree, but if not, it will be difficult to reach an agreement and that is our current position," Akazawa said. He refused to give details of the progress, including in which areas it has been made. According to the Treasury Department, Bessent highlighted to Akazawa the importance of boosting investment and working together to deal with economic security issues. Bessent also reaffirmed the "strong bilateral relationship" between the two countries, the department said. On the eve of the talks, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump by phone, telling reporters afterward that each side was able to gain a better understanding of the views held by the other. Ishiba, however, said Japan's position on building a win-win relationship has not changed and that it is necessary to achieve the goal by increasing his country's investment in the United States, rather than using tariffs. Akazawa was previously in Washington just a week ago, when he met separately with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Lutnick, but not with Bessent. The Japanese and U.S. leaders are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada. Akazawa's team has presented a set of proposals to the Trump administration since the first round of the bilateral ministerial talks kicked off in mid-April. The package includes more purchases of U.S. corn and soybeans to help counteract the decline of its exports of the two crops to China amid trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, officials familiar with the negotiations said. It also contains Japan's readiness to cooperate in resurrecting the shipbuilding capacity of the United States, a goal Trump has vowed to attain amid China's increasing dominance of the industry, according to the officials. In return, Akazawa has persistently asked the Trump administration to eliminate the new tariffs it imposed on Japanese imports. On Friday, Akazawa said boosting Japan-U.S. cooperation on strategic sectors such as semiconductors and rare earths is crucial, in addition to narrowing differences over trade and nontariff barriers. He said the two countries, for example, will be able to build a robust supply chain of chips together as each has its own strengths. While the steel industry is also seen as a strategic sector, Trump said Nippon Steel Corp.'s planned huge investment in United States Steel Corp. has not much to do with the ongoing bilateral tariff talks. "But certainly, it certainly won't hurt, because we have a very good relationship with Japan," Trump told reporters after delivering a speech on Friday evening at a U.S. Steel plant to hail the investment, adding that Japan wants to "very much make a deal." In early May, Akazawa and the U.S. Cabinet members agreed to accelerate their tariff talks from the latter half of the month with the aim of striking an agreement beneficial for both Japan and the United States. Under Trump's so-called reciprocal tariff regime, announced April 2, Japan faces a country-specific tariff of 14 percent for a total rate of 24 percent. Along with other countries, Japan has been hit by the Trump administration's additional 25 percent tariff on automobiles and other sector-based levies implemented on national security grounds, on top of the baseline duty of 10 percent that is part of its reciprocal scheme. Related coverage: Japan rules out defense deal in return for U.S. tariff easing Japan PM says mutual understanding "deepened" with Trump over tariffs Japan defense equipment outlays may ease U.S. trade gap: tariff chief
15 hours ago
- Business
Japan-U.S. Tariff Talks Progressing toward Accord: Akazawa
News from Japan Society May 31, 2025 13:12 (JST) Washington, May 30 (Jiji Press)--Japan and the United States, in the fourth round of their tariff negotiations in Washington on Friday, confirmed that their discussions are progressing toward an agreement, Japan's top negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said the same day. Speaking to reporters after the talks, which lasted some two hours and 10 minutes, economic revitalization minister Akazawa also said the two sides confirmed that they are fully aware of each other's positions. Furthermore, the minister said participants in the day's meeting, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, agreed to hold another round of discussions ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Canada in mid-June. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
