A little note on the Bush economy

Within the past few weeks, twelve of my foreign vendors have announced the same change to their invoice and payment policies: rather than billing in dollars, they will bill in their native currencies (including euros). The chinese firm has requested that conversions be made in relation to the euro (e.g., yuan to euros to dollars). All will continue to accept payment in dollars "for your convenience."

This means that they are losing too much money waiting for payment in dollars, because of depreciation.

And the dollar keeps slip-sliding away.

(edited for clarity)

with some of the predictions I made here

This doesn't really surprise me.

How could so many people vote for this idiot

MrMonk,
I find that disconcerting but not too surprising. Might I inquire as to what line of business you are in? Is it manufacturing, services, or commodities related?

Secondly, what percentage of your vendor business is foreign vs. domestic? and was this pricing change discussed/mentioned prior to November 2004? Please advise, thanks!

Note: My research is on the petrodollar vs. petroeuro issues: Iran began something similar (but opposite of what you desctribed). In mid-2003 they began payment invoicing their oil exports in mid-2003 in the euro currency for their EU and some ACU (Asian) customers, but kept the oil priced in the dollar due to the technical issues of oil futures. (ie. price in dollars, payments in euros) Next year or early 2006 they are scheduled to start pricing oil in the euro, thereby completing the commodity trade-cycle in a fully euro-denominated market...unless of course the * admin attempts some type of intervention...

We rely on foreign firms for research, counsel and contacts.

About 10-15% of our work is with vendors overseas, but I handle much more of the foreign contact than other people here. The changes probably won't hurt us (much) financially, but I think that they indicate the diminished faith that foreign businesses have in the continued strength of the dollar. The changes weren't discussed with us beforehand, but we would not be a substantial part of the business of any of the firms we deal with. From the way the changes were presented, I expect that they were applied across the board to all clients who were accustomed to paying in dollars.