It’s a good bet that someone who drafted the One Big Beautiful Bill read The Power Broker. Section 899 alone would have made [Robert] Moses proud. Passed without discussion by the House, 899 gives the Treasury secretary the discretion to rule that other countries are levying “discriminatory” taxes against the US and slap a tax of up to 20% on their US investments. As foreign money currently in US stocks and bonds exceeds US foreign investments by $26 trillion, this could upend the world financial order. It’s a cudgel with which Trump can escalate a trade war into a capital war.

It will be difficult to remove now that it is in the bill. To quote Marko Papic, geopolitical strategist at BCA Research:

Even if the rule is watered down, the notion that foreigners owe the US is catching on with American lawmakers. And we can see some future Democratic administration — perhaps especially a future Democratic administration — fully endorsing a ‘tax the (rich) foreigners’ agenda enthusiastically.

Section 899 has dominated Wall Street this week as lawyers grapple with the implications. It will likely deter foreigners from investing in the US and, as Papic says, strengthen the case for an “exodus from the US.”