Hence, the dollar appears to remain the international “vehicle currency,” serving as a temporary abode of value for foreign-exchange transactions involving third currencies, whereas the euro’s role in foreign-exchange markets is similar to that played in earlier times by the deutschemark (Solans, 2003). The dollar also remains the dominant invoicing currency for internationally traded raw materials, such as oil.
The dollar is even dominant in U.S.-European trade, with more than 90 percent of U.S. exports to Europe and something more than 80 percent of European exports to the United States being invoiced in dollars as of September 2003 (European Central Bank, 2003, p. 33).