Moody’s deprives the American debt of his « triple a » – Liberation

It is a blow for the economic policy of Donald Trump: the Moody’s agency lowered on Friday the note of the United States, while the tensions linked to its trade war, especially with China, were just starting to calm down. For the very first timethe agency withdrew its maximum note from AAA from the American debt and downgraded it to AA1, adding a stable perspective. It justified its decision by the rise in debt of the United States and its cost for the federal budget.

The White House reacted to the report on X, the director of communication Steven Cheung criticizing Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. « No one takes their «  » « analyzes» seriously. He was proven that he was wrongly wrong ”wrote Steven Cheung.

“Successive governments and elected officials have failed to get along to take the measures to reverse the trend leading to a significant annual deficit. We do not think that discounts of expenses and deficit can be carried out with the proposal for a budgetary law currently under discussion ”justified the agency in a press release.

Several elected representatives of Republicans had a key vote on the advancement of a megaproject of law on Friday, given as the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s program. This must in particular concretize the extension of the tax credits granted during its first mandate before their expiration, at the end of the year.

The bill also provides $ 880 billion in budget cuts over ten years, mainly concerning the health insurance programs of 70 million Americans with modest income.

However, the Republican Party is divided on the issue, depending on the priorities of the various elected officials, which complicates the process and makes doubt that this major project can be examined next week by the House of Representatives.

Thus, despite the exhortations of Donald Trump on his Truth Social network, five Republican elected officials were allied with the Democrats to reject the text before the Budget Commission of the House of Representatives.

Moody’s comes to bring arguments to those who oppose the project, saying to expect, during the next decade, to “Even greater deficits, with an increase in expenses while income will remain stable. This will strengthen the weight of debt on public finances ”in the event of validation of the bill.

For the elected Republican French Hill, the agency’s decision is “A powerful reminder that things are not in order. We want to reinstate budgetary stability and attack the structural causes of our debt ”.

The lowering of the note « Is a direct warning : our budgetary prospects are deteriorating, and the republicans of the House of Representatives are determined to worsen them ”said in a press release Brendan Boyle, elected Democrat in the House of Representatives and member of the Budget Commission. « The question is whether the Republicans are ready to realize the damage they are causing »added Brendan Boyle.

Nevertheless, the American economy remains « unique » because of « Its depth, the high income it generates, the strong potential growth and its ability to innovate and strengthen its productivity »which encourages the agency to maintain its stable perspectives immediately.

She calls the government to « Put in place the tax reforms making it possible to slow down significantly and even reverse the deterioration of the debt and public deficits, either by increasing income or by reducing expenses ».

It was the last of the three major rating agencies not to have lowered the American debt and to keep it the highest note.

His competitor Fitch had degraded it with a notch, in AA +, in 2023, believing that repeated political crises on the debt ceiling were likely to erode the governance of the country. Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings was the first major rating agency to deprive the United States of the « Triple A » in 2011, and has not since noted the note, which is still in AA +.