US-Japan Trade Research Articles

The US-Japan car dispute: a monumental mistake

The author examines the recent trade dispute between the United States and Japan concerning the automobile industry as an illustration of the shortcomings of US trade policy under the Clinton administration, in respect of two main issues: aggressive unilateralism, and demands for managed trade in the form of ‘voluntary import expansions’. He argues both the US complaints against Japan were ill-founded and that the methods chosen by the US administration, and in particular by the US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, to pursue them were politically misconceived, inconsistent with the United States’ declared allegiance to the multilateral trading system, and damaging both to that system and to US-Japan trade relations. The failure of the US strategy, he argues, is unsurprising and welcome, and US-Japan trade relations should now be normalized.⋆

Shifting Comparative Advantage and the Employment Effects of US—Japan Trade

Shifting Comparative Advantage and the Employment Effects of US—Japan Trade

US–Japan trade talks in trouble

US–Japan trade talks in trouble

Trade liberalization, agro-food politics and the globalization of agriculture

Abstract This paper examines the role of trade liberalization in advancing processes of globalization in the agricultural and food order. Recent struggles over liberalizing agricultural trade, evident within the GATT Uruguay Round and other forums, reflect broader social, political and economic dynamics of global capitalist restructuring. This paper focuses on the case of the US-Japan beef trade and the series of bilateral negotiations that culminated in the June 1988 US-Japan Beef and Citrus Liberalization Agreement. It explores the historical context of the highly-politicized issue of the US-Japan beef trade, including an investigation of the genesis and renegotiation of Japan's state-sponsored domestic beef sub-sector and the role of US and Japanese farm and meat industry organizations in shaping the nature and rhetoric of the debate. Liberalization represents a general de-nationalization of agriculture both in institutional terms, via the dismantling of state regulatory structures supportive of national farm sectors, and in terms of the relocation of agro-food capital, expressed by greater opportunities for global sourcing and direct foreign investment by agro-food transnationals. Liberalization of the Japanese beef market has intensified the international division of labor in the beef commodity chain. Japanese transnationals, formerly involved in meat import, reacted to liberalization by investing in the US and Australian beef industries. This was followed by direct foreign investment in the Australian meat industry by major US food companies. The relocation of agro-food capital has altered regional agricultures by creating intricate supply pipelines targeted specifically for Japanese and other high-income Asian markets.

The Japanese Economy

A comparative perspective and an analytic approach grounded in mainstream economics distinguish this broad, accessible introduction to the Japanese economy. Throughout, Ito utilizes standard economic concepts in comparing Japan with the United States in terms of economic performances, underlying institutions, and government policies. Referring to cultural factors where appropriate, Ito subjects the basic facts about the Japanese economy to modern theoretical and empirical scrutiny, discussing macroeconomic growth, business cycles, monetary and fiscal policies, industrial structures and policies, the labor market, saving and investment, and international trade and finance. Ito reviews relevant aspects of Japan's history before launching into a broad analysis of the country's markets and its economic policies. He concludes with a look at such contemporary economic issues as the Japanese distribution system, Japanese asset prices, and US-Japan trade conflicts.

US-Japan trade friction: its impact on security cooperation in the Pacific Basin

US-Japan trade friction: its impact on security cooperation in the Pacific Basin

Japanese investment in the US and US-Japan trade problems : Keynote address

Japanese investment in the US and US-Japan trade problems : Keynote address

Long Term Trend in the Americans' Attitude Toward Japan and the Japanese

The article attempts to investigate historical transformation in the Americans' evaluation of Japan and the Japanese over the past fifty years. As a result of the analysis of the empirical data derived from two opinion polls, the author has found that the level of evaluation has gradually risen over the past thirty years. Especially when one compares the ranking position of the Japanese in 1951 and 1984, the difference is striking. The US-Japan trade problem which has called public attention in the past two decades does not seem to bear significant negative influence upon the evaluation. Furthermore, it has been found that age, education, income, and occupation show significant correlation with the evaluation.

‘Half‐Truths’ of US–Japan Trade

‘Half‐Truths’ of US–Japan Trade

US-Japan trade: Truce agreed in chip war

US-Japan trade: Truce agreed in chip war