The U.S. - Japan Trade Relations

Today Japan is no longer an insignificant kingdom in a remote corner of East Asia as it used to be know before the second world war. Through its consumer goods, Japan has exported its influence to almost every American home. At government\u27s level, the officials are preoccupied with the problem of trade imbalance with Japan- -the nagging problem is not on the volume of Japanese imports, but that the U.S. goods encounter difficulty penetrating the Japanese market. The reverse was the situation just before Japan embarked on massive importation of technologies after the second world war. The impressive advancement of Japanese economy after the war was a combination of the influx of technologies and the resourcefulness of the Japanese themselves. The United States has unfavorable trade relations with Japan. This situation is the nucleus of this research. The second chapter will investigate Japan\u27s economic growth phase which followed the second world war. This growth phase or spurt is commonly known as the economic miracle. The third chapter will elaborate on the presence of the U.S. large corporations in Japan. The effect of such presence on the United States economy will be discussed. The fourth chapter will show Japan moving from the position of technology importer to the position of technology exporter. The last chapter is a summary of the U.S. trade imbalance with Japan since 1971, and an exposition f what the U.S. officials think are obstacles to improved trade relations with Japan. Possibilities of action to be taken by the U.S. if Japan ignores the warning to open up her market to U.S. products will be thoroughly discussed