Canada

First question is, massive sell off to whom?

Any bonds that are at their due date are required to be paid out by the US treasury.

Most holders of US bonds have a revolving collection of them, so some are coming due on a regular and continual basis.

Admittedly, that's not a mass sell-off, but it still puts pressure on the US if everyone starts doing it .

I am not sure who 'we' is that is 'holding the bag'. And I am not sure that you are not still stuck in the last century.

Most knowledgeable people acknowledge that the Chinese economy is closing in, if not already passing, the American economy. But then they assume it is somewhere around a 50-50 split of the world economy. Well, it is not a 50-50 split, it is not even a 40-40 split. It is more like a 25-25 split, with the other 50% divided among, as Carney called them, middle economies. But those middle economies, as Carney also pointed out, (although not directly) control around half of the global GDP, twice as large as either the American or the Chinese economy individually. That is the New World Order. At the end of last century, all of the economic indicator pie charts had America with 80% or better of the charts, the rest of the world 20% or less. Now, America has 30% or less of the same charts, rest of the world 70% or better. The previous 'Rules' were all about keeping America on top. Those rules are no longer keeping America on top, so America is ignoring them. America is trying to make the new rules, in order to stay on top, without realizing that America is now far, far from the top, and just is not in any position to enforce these new rules. The rest of the world is ignoring these new American rules just like America is ignoring the old rules. The more they ignore America's rules and make their own, the more America suffers by the non-enforcement of the American rules. Americans absolutely refuse to play by anyone else's rules, and so they are just being left out of the game. The rest of the world is getting away with it today, when they could not get away with it last century, because of that 70-30 reversal. America just does not have the economic clout it had last century. Instead, the rest of the world now has that clout. And it is not just about China, it is about every other country. America has no hope of ever being on top again.. The house of cards has been tumbling down in America for decades, it was just covered up by false propaganda while the really big money fled the US for greater pastures.

I am not sure if you are following what China is doing, but it is a lesson for all nations. Just a little while ago (20120-2016), it had around $1.3 trillion in American treasury bills. Now it has around half of that. Even Japan has more American debt that China does. In other words, China cashed in the debt holdings as it came due without buying more. That is a lot of money that America gave to China, that China used to offset the impact of American tariffs. Instead of Americans buying Chinese goods and sending money to China, Americans just sent China the money instead, no purchase necessary.

So as America falls, those countries that have driven up their share of the US debt can now follow China's lead. Take their money out of America by cashing in the bonds without buying more. That is around $3.8 trillion that is flowing out of America without them buying a single thing. At the turn of the century, Americans not buying anything from the rest of the world would have caused economic collapse in those countries. Today, those countries can sell to the rest of the 75% of world GDP without selling a thing to America. That is some cushion.

Carney was not the first, but he was certainly arguably the most influential, world statesman that finally pronounced 'The King has no Clothes'. When the dust settles, I suspect America will end up splitting in at least two, if not three or more, parts, if history has anything to say about it. Failed states inevitably end up in pieces. Then, countries that are holding US debt can take payment in assets (land), not money. After all, it is these other countries that are now making the rules.