WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy's strong performance in the second quarter, particularly in exports, is being driven by strong growth outside the United States, not the weak dollar, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday.

"I'm very much for a strong dollar, that's very important," Paulson told CNBC Television.

"Now I believe what we're seeing is a strong global economy. This is the strongest global economy I've seen in 32 years. The growth rate in Europe has doubled. We've got growth throughout Asia. Japan is now growing, so I think this is being driven by strong growth outside of the U.S."

The Commerce Department said earlier that U.S. economic growth rebounded to 3.4 percent during the second quarter, its strongest pace since the beginning of last year on a surge in business investment, increased government spending and improved trade performance. The data marked a big turnaround from anemic 0.6 percent growth in the first quarter, a figure previously reported as 0.7 percent.

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