The head of the American Auto Manufacturers Association expressed strong concern July 17 that Tokyo is not putting enough effort into opening Japan's automobile market.
Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo, AAMA President Andrew Card said trade figures are now reaching a "politically unstable and unsustainable level," noting that concerns are especially strong in the U.S. auto industry. His speech came the same day that the Japanese government released the latest trade figures showing that Japanese auto exports to the U.S. rose 32.7 percent in the first half of 1997 from a year earlier, while U.S. exports to Japan fell 28.3 percent.
Card said that the association filed a request last week with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asking that Japan be placed on the watch list for possible application of the Super 301 unfair trade practices provision. The USTR will make a final decision on the request by the end of September, he said.