But foreign investors, who hold nearly half of the US government’s debt now – and are likely to hold an even larger share in the future – could still have reason to worry that the US might someday try to reduce the value of its debt in a way that adversely affects them but not Americans, or that affects all debt holders but relieves the foreign-debt burden on American taxpayers. This need not mean outright default; a plan to repay principal and interest with low-interest securities rather than cash – or to withhold income tax on interest earned from government bonds, crediting those taxes against the obligations of American taxpayers – would achieve the same result.