Thinking in English

There is a snippet in this article that I read earlier this week in a German language article, but I didn't understand the full meaning of it until I read it again in English. I may be able to speak and read German, but I think in English.

No, I'm not concerned about the arbitrary level of the yuan versus the dollar, or the euro. And I've known for quite some time that ECB chief Trichet will be meeting his Chinese colleagues next week. No, I'm talking about a simple bit of trade related material;

"...the Areva deal will be concluded in euros and not in the customary dollars..."

For the first time ever China will be paying in euros, meaning that they are now going to have to start collecting them. It's not that "collecting euros" will be a difficult thing for the Chinese, because Europe routinely runs a huge trade deficit with China just as America does. In the month of October alone that deficit was almost 14 Billion Dollars.

Dollars. Even the European trade deficit with China is measured in dollars. Even now European importers are forced to buy dollars in order to pay for products of Chinese origin, adding a small amount to the cost of doing business. The Euro was created to do away with this particular cost of doing business, and now that China will be paying for goods and services in euros, I'm sure that they will now start to accept payment in euros too.

This is just one more sign of the waning importance of the US Dollar.