President Donald Trump says he has ordered the Treasury department to stop new cents, citing the growing cost of producing the currency of a center.
“For too long, the United States has coined cents that literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! Trump wrote in a publication on Sunday night in his real social place. “I have instructed my Secretary of the United States Treasury to stop producing new cents.”
Trump’s movement is the last one in what has been a rapid effort of its new administration to promulgate a radical change through the executive order and the proclamation on issues ranging from immigration, to gender and diversity, to name of the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But the so -called Elon Musk government efficiency department raised the perspective in a position in X last month highlighting the cost of the penny.
The United States Currency House reported having lost $ 85.3 million in fiscal year 2024 that ended in September in the almost 3.2 billion cents it produced. Each penny costs almost $ 0.037, compared to $ 0.031 the previous year.
The mint also loses money in the nickel, with each of the coins of $ 0.05 that cost almost $ 0.14 to win.
It is not clear if Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the humble currency of a penny. The currency specifications, including the size and metal content of the coins, are dictated by the Congress.
But Robert K. Triest, professor of economics at Northeastern University, has argued that there could be room for maneuver.
“The process of discontinuating the penny in the United States is a bit unclear. He would probably require an act of Congress, but the Treasury Secretary could simply stop the coin of new cents, ”he said last month.
Congress members have repeatedly introduced legislation that points to the zinc coin with copper coating. The proposals over the years have tried to temporarily suspend the production of the penny, eliminate it from the circulation or require prices to be rounded to the five closest cents, according to the Congress Research Service.
The defenders of eliminating the currency have cited cost savings, faster payments in the registrar boxes and the fact that several countries have already eliminated their coins from a penny. Canada, for example, stopped coining his penny in 2012.
It would not be the first time that the United States eliminated its less valuable currency. The middle center currency was discontinued by Congress in 1857.
The new Trump administration has focused sharply on reducing costs, with Musk, who has been introduced to lead the task, aimed at entire agencies and large stripes of the Federal workforce while trying to identify a $ 2 billion goal in savings.
“Let’s extract the waste from the budget of our great nations, even if it is a penny at the same time,” Trump wrote in his publication.
Trump sent the message when he left New Orleans after watching the first half of the Super Bowl.
