"Does this mean that the Louvre agreement is no longer operative?"

The parties agreed to continue economic cooperation under the Louvre agreement and its flexible application including cooperation on exchange rate stability and monetary policies.

The United States remains committed to the Louvre agreement, and today I signed the preliminary sequester order under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law.

"If the Louvre agreement has entered into troubled waters, it is because commitments to coordinate policies haven't been implemented by several countries with sufficient vigor and speed."

"It's the consensus opinion that the dollar had to come off another 10 percent after the Louvre agreement," he said.

The dollar now stands about 2 percent higher than when the Louvre agreement was signed.

Many Europeans asserted that his remarks violated the Louvre agreement, reached last February by the Group of Seven industrial nations.

Earlier this year, the United States was raising interest rates to support the dollar in accordance with the Louvre agreement.

Since then, despite occasional turbulence in the markets, the dollar has hovered close to 1.83 marks, the exchange rate that was in effect at the time of the Louvre agreement.

(The "continue" was important: They would not concede that the Louvre agreement of last February had broken down.)