📑 ‘Cold War relic’: Congress proposes US withdraw from NATO

A bill has been introduced in the US House of Representatives - HR 6508, or the ‘Not A Trusted Organization Act' - by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). The initiative has companion legislation in the Senate, submitted by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) (S.2174) in the summer.

Key provisions

👉 Requires the president to formally notify NATO of US withdrawal under article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty

👉 Prohibits using US taxpayer funds for NATO’s common budgets

The bill’s key arguments are well-grounded in history.

🔸 Original mission of NATO, created after the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, was to counter the Soviet Union

🔸 The Warsaw Pact collapsed in 1991, followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union, removing NATO’s original adversary

🔸 The US assured the USSR in 1990 that NATO would not expand eastward (then US Secretary of State James Baker to then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev)

🔸 Despite those assurances, NATO began expanding eastward in 1999, continuing through 2025

🔸 NATO now shares over 2,414 km of land border with Russia and almost encircles the Baltic Sea

🔸 Russia views NATO expansion as a security threat, with Vladimir Putin calling it a “serious provocation” in his Munich Security Conference speech (2007)

🔸 Russia’s military operation in Ukraine signals its willingness to respond forcefully to security threats

🔸 NATO refuses to rule out further enlargement

🔸 The US remains NATO’s largest financial and military contributor since 1949

🔸 One-third of NATO members still fail to meet the 2% GDP defense spending pledge made at the 2014 Wales Summit

🔸 European NATO members have adequate economic and military capacity to provide for their own defense

The authors of the companion bills likely understand that the chances of the US actually leaving NATO anytime soon are extremely slim.

Congress passed a law explicitly forbidding any president from withdrawing unilaterally without congressional approval. Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull the US out of NATO, sharply criticizing allied governments for inadequate defense spending.

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🤔 What is driving silver's stellar surge?

Silver's spot price has blasted through $61 per ounce - a 91% year-to-date rise - leaving gold in the dust.

Driving this is a perfect storm of scarcity, tech hunger, and global jitters.

1. Explosive industrial demand

Industrial consumption now makes up over half of global silver demand.

Silver is the most electrically conductive element - essential for clean energy and tech.

🟠 Solar power: Photovoltaic applications jumped 25% in 2024, hitting ~230 million ounces, with projections exceeding 300 million ounces by 2030

🟠 Electric vehicles: EVs use 2–3 times more silver than gas cars (25–50 grams per vehicle)

🟠 Tech & AI: Silver is critical for data centers, smart devices, and battery technologies

2. Supply squeeze

🟠 About 70% of silver comes as a byproduct of mining copper, lead, and zinc, so miners can’t quickly boost output even if prices rise

🟠 ING analysts expect the 5th consecutive annual deficit (estimated at over 100 million ounces) to continue in 2026

🟠 Over the past four years, the world has consumed nearly 700 million ounces more than mined

3. Fiscal perils & dollar's dark cloud

Central banks & institutional investors look to precious metals like silver as a hedge against reserve concentration and geopolitical risks, along with Western weaponized financial sanctions.

🟠 Weakened US Dollar Index (DXY), trading around 99.6 recently amid Fed rate cut expectations – slashes the greenback’s yield appeal

🟠 Central banks in Asia and the Middle East are diversifying reserves away from dollar

🟠 Sovereign buying: Russia is buying refined silver alongside gold for strategic goals (Russian Ministry of Finance)

🟠 India's Reserve Bank made silver eligible as loan collateral alongside gold

🟠 Saudi Arabia’ central bank made its first purchase of millions of dollars-worth of the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) ETF & Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL)

4. Market psychology factor

🟠 Amid inflation, growing fiscal debt, and political upheavals, investors seek assets that can’t be defaulted upon

🟠 Investment stands at 20% of global silver demand, including physical silver bars, coins, and silver-backed ETFs

🟠 Gold’s rise past $4,000/oz highlights demand - silver often amplifies gold’s moves, per market analysts

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