The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that he has ordered the Treasury Department to stop the production of new cents, a measure that, according to him, will help reduce the unnecessary expenditure of the government.
The US president, Donald Trump. Photo:AFP
“For too long, the United States has coined cents that literally cost more than two cents to manufacture them. It is a waste! I have ordered my treasure secretary to put an end to its production,” Trump wrote on Sunday night in his network Truth Social.
For too long, the United States has coined cents that literally cost more than two cents to manufacture them. It’s a waste!
“Let’s eliminate the waste of our great national budget, even if it is a penny at the same time,” he added.
Although Trump said that manufacturing a penny costs two, the expense is even greater. According to the US Currency House, each unit cost almost 3.7 cents in fiscal year 2024, which meant a loss of 85.3 million dollars with the production of about 3.2 billion currencies.
The debate on the elimination of the penny has been in the US for years. Photo:Istock
The president’s decision is registered in the offensive of his new administration to introduce changes with a decree in issues such as immigrationgender policy and reduction of public spending, an effort directed by the so -called government efficiency department (Doge), under the supervision of Elon Musk.
Trump did not mention during his campaign the elimination of the penny, but on January 21, one day after assuming the position, Doge raised the possibility in an X message when pointing out its high manufacturing cost.
It is not clear if the president has the authority to suppress by decree the currency of a pennysince the specifications on its size and composition depend on Congress.
United States President Donald Trump. Photo:EFE
The debate on the elimination of the Pentavo has been in the US for years, with legislators who have promoted initiatives to suspend their production, withdraw it from circulation or rounding prices to five cents, according to the Congress Research Service.
Several countries have already stopped coining low value coins, such as Canada, which eliminated its penny in 2012.
(Tagstotranslate) International
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