That link somewhat misleadingly downplays the role of other dollar-denominated assets held by non-US. Now it is true that the fact that trillions of USDs are he

That link somewhat misleadingly downplays the role of other dollar-denominated assets held by non-US. Now it is true that the fact that trillions of USDs are held in treasuries by other countries (China, Japan, etc.) cannot significantly affect the interest paid on those treasuries, because this interest rate is largely a result of Fed monetary policy. On the other hand, it is very obvious that the fact that the Chinese government is buying up treasuries is what prevents the USD from dropping versus the RMB. So China is effectively giving the US a whole bunch of real goods for free, by buying up those treasuries. This may be irrelevant from the financial perspective, but in real terms, this is a huge benefit for the US. That said, the fact that China buys lots of USD doesn't have anything to do with the whole petro-dollar thing. It just so happens that their industry is geared towards exporting to the US, and it is not possible for them to restructure their industry quickly. So in a sense, the article is still correct on the whole petro-dollar front, but misleading in others.