The US is leaning hard on allies and China to keep buying its debt and squeeze Iran, and the pitch is landing badly — bad news for the bond market and the dollar.

• Foreign governments are selling US government bonds to fund their own spending, and yields keep climbing as a result.
• US borrowing is out of control, adding a trillion dollars of new debt every five months, which is why confidence is slipping.
• Mocking Canada is a costly move — Canada holds a huge pile of US bonds and supplies most of the oil, gas, and power some US regions depend on.
• Washington is betting Iran's economy cracks within weeks, but China can keep Iran afloat with oil deals, loans, and payments that bypass the dollar.
• Gas, diesel, and food prices are already high, so the Fed can't cut rates easily — and a rate hike would blow up the debt math.

Outlook: Expect yields to stay high and foreign buyers to keep trimming their US bond holdings unless Washington calms allies and slows the borrowing.