On this day, 54 years ago, on December 13, 1971 (October 26, 1971, the presidents of the United States and France issued a joint communiqué announcing the devaluation of the US dollar. On December 13-14, 1971, U.S. President Nixon and French President Pompidou held talks in the Portuguese Azores Islands in the Atlantic. In a joint communiqué issued after the talks, it was announced that the United States and France agreed, in cooperation with other relevant countries, to "strive to quickly readjust the exchange rate through the depreciation of the US dollar and the appreciation of some other currencies" as an early solution to the long-standing quarrelling and deadlocked international currency crisis in the capitalist world. This is the first time since 1934 that U.S. officials have officially announced that the U.S. dollar will depreciate. It marks the sharp decline of the political and economic hegemony of U.S. imperialism, the further bankruptcy of the privileged status of the US dollar as a symbol of this hegemony, and the disintegration of the capitalist international monetary system supported by the US dollar. On August 15 of this year, the U.S. government implemented a "new economic policy" to transfer the crisis to other countries, but other capitalist countries did not buy the United States 'account. The six countries of Western Europe and major capitalist countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan have all called for the devaluation of the US dollar, the abolition of the US import surcharge and the gradual abolition of the US dollar's privileged status as a reserve currency, and used this as a readjustment of the capitalist world monetary system. condition. Over the past four months, the United States and its "trading partners" have held many large and small meetings around these issues. After many fierce quarrels, they have been unable to reach an agreement. The United States has always been very isolated. At the same time, the "new economic policy" cannot reverse the sharp deterioration of the U.S. balance of payments deficit. In the third quarter of this year, based on all transactions with foreign officials and private individuals, the United States 'balance of payments deficit reached US$9.3 billion, setting a record in U.S. history, and US$1 billion more than the deficit in the first half of this year., equivalent to more than twice the deficit for the whole of 1970. There are signs that if the United States continues to adhere to its stubborn stance, some other capitalist countries will take further confrontational measures. As a result, the U.S. balance of payments situation may deteriorate even further. Under these circumstances, Nixon had to express his willingness to devalue the dollar in exchange for the appreciation of other countries 'currencies. This shows the bankruptcy of the "new economic policy" of the United States. On trade issues, the United States has also used "new economic policies" to force Western European countries to make unilateral concessions, eliminate tariff barriers, relax import quotas, and open the door for American goods to enter Western European markets. This kind of behavior by the United States has been resolutely resisted by Western European countries. France has said it will not negotiate trade issues with the United States with a knife pointed at its throat. According to Agence France-Presse, French Foreign Minister Schumann, who accompanied President Pompidou to attend the meeting, said shortly after arriving in the Azores on the evening of the 12th that "the six countries in the common market use the devaluation of the US dollar as one of the conditions for negotiating trade issues with the United States. On the 13th, he added: Our most important condition is that reciprocity should be based on mutual benefit, and for mutual benefit to become a reality, an agreement must be reached on adjusting currency ratios. In this case, U.S. Secretary of State Rogers also had to admit that mutual benefit should be achieved through negotiations. After the United States expressed its willingness to make such concessions, France also expressed its willingness to make some concessions.