United States Protectionism in Economic Relations with Japan

Abstract

PRESIDENT FORD, in one of the preelection debates with Jimmy Carter, asserted that United States relations with Japan are excellent, that they have never been better. Falling on Japanese ears, this version of the facts leaves much to be desired. For one thing, at present several hotly contested issues are outstanding. They include Japanese fishing rights, aviation rights, and U.S. imports of iron and steel, color television sets and other commodities. These are quite different from the issues of some years ago concerning Japanese import liberalization and the entry of oranges and grapefruit into Japan. In the case of oranges and grapefruit, the United States was seeking the understanding of Japan and, in the U.S. view, this presented a problem. In the case of fishing and aviation rights, Japan is seeking the understanding of the United States and, in Mr. Ford's view, this presented no problem. In general, the overriding issue between the U.S. and Japan at present concerns American protectionism. I would like to suggest ten reasons why the U.S. may be increasingly protectionist in its relations with Japan in the foreseeable future. In the first place, increased protectionism on the part of the U.S. would be consistent with a trend that has been accelerating in the world economy for approximately a decade. It is evident that as Japan has become more liberalized, other industrial nations have become more protectionist.' The world's multilateral economic structure, in the course of its transition from a bipolar to a multipolar political commu-