[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 82 (Wednesday, May 17, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6769-S6770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TRADE WITH JAPAN

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I want to turn to one other very brief 
subject, and that is the issue of trade with Japan.
  I intend to provide a discussion tomorrow at some greater length 
about our trade situation. But I noticed that the Trade Representative 
has announced potential sanctions in the future against Japanese trade 
with the United States if Japan does not open its market further to 
United States goods.
  The fact is the trade situation in this country is serious. We talk a 
lot about the Federal budget deficit, but we have another deficit that 
is serious and troublesome. We have a trade deficit that is the most 
significant trade deficit in this country's history. The merchandise 
trade deficit last year was $166 billion, and I have a chart that shows 
our trade picture in this country. I would like to hold it up.
  This chart shows with whom we have trade deficits and those with whom 
we have trade surpluses. We have almost no surpluses, and those 
countries with whom we have a surplus, it is a very, very minuscule 
surplus, but you will see what is happening with respect to deficits.
  All of our major trading partners are countries with which we now 
have a trade deficit, and that now includes Mexico, for all those who 
said we were going to have all these new jobs and bountiful trade with 
Mexico. What a bunch of nonsense that was. We have turned a trade 
surplus with Mexico into a very significant trade deficit. Most experts 
suggest the deficit with Mexico will turn out to be anywhere from $12 
to $16 billion. It was the last remaining major trading partner we had 
with which we have had a surplus, and we have turned that into a 
deficit, unfortunately, with NAFTA and the subsequent devaluation of 
the peso, and so on.
  But you will see in this line a growing, escalating trade deficit 
with Japan even as the dollar was weakened against the yen, even when 
you would expect the trade circumstances to move in the other 
direction. Our trade deficit with Japan is unsustainable, and it is not 
fair. The Japanese expect their products to come into the American 
market unimpeded, and they do. We have a wide selection of brand names 
from Japan in virtually every area of consumer products. So they access 
our marketplace. And what happens when we try to access theirs? We find 
impediment after impediment after impediment, and we cannot get 
American goods in any significant quantity into the Japanese 
marketplace.
  I have a very small chart I would like to show on auto parts and on 
cars and trucks, and I hope that this can be picked up. But this shows 
the percentage of auto parts by country, and I wish to show you the 
import share. The United Kingdom has 60 percent--60 percent of the auto 
parts in the United Kingdom are imports; 32 percent in the United 
States; 49 percent in France; 16 percent in Italy; 2.4 percent of the 
auto parts in Japan are imported--2.4 percent. All the rest are 
produced in Japan.
  Now, is that an accident? No, it is not, because they keep auto parts 
out of Japan. You cannot get them in. They can move them to the United 
States, but we cannot move them to Japan.
  How about cars and trucks? Mr. President, 4 percent of the cars and 
trucks sold in Japan are imports. And you look at the rest of the 
countries: 35 percent in Italy; 54 percent in the United Kingdom; 30 
percent of the cars and trucks sold in the United States are imports; 4 
percent of the cars and trucks sold in Japan are imports.
  Now, is that because no one has figured out a way to sell in Japan? 
No. It is because Japan keeps them out. Japan has a one-way trade 
strategy that says we want Japanese producers to be able to sell in 
your markets, but when your producers want to sell in Japan, we want to 
keep them out.
  This President, to his credit, has begun to stand up to other 
countries, including Japan, saying we are sick and tired of one-way 
trade relations. When we have these trade deficits, it means lost jobs 
in America--lost jobs, lost income, lost opportunity, and lost hope. 
The President is saying we expect and demand reciprocal trade policies. 
Japan, we want you to open your markets.
  We are not saying we want to shut off access to Japanese goods in the 
United States. That is not the point. The United States has 
demonstrated for many, many years that we want our consumers to have 
the widest possible choice of goods, including goods from around the 
world. But it is long past the time when our country should accept a 
trade relationship that is unfair to our people, unfair to our country, 
unfair to our wage earners.
  This President is saying to Japan, we are going to hold up a mirror. 
We treat you well. Our borders are open to you. You move your goods 
here in increasing quantities. We expect your borders to be open to us. 
We expect American producers and the product of American workers to 
have access to the consumers in Japan. And he is the first President 
for some long while to have the nerve to stand up and to have the nerve 
to confront the Japanese on these issues.
  It is not just the Japanese. We also have to confront the Chinese, 
whose $30 billion trade surplus with the United States is growing at an 
alarming rate. We must be able to penetrate those markets and have 
fairness in the world and world trade. [[Page S6770]] 
  Ambassador Kantor and the President, I know, are embarked on a 
nervous time, and I know it is very controversial. But I would say, 
whether it is a Republican or a Democratic administration, this country 
needs to stand up for its economic interests. It needs to stand up for 
jobs and opportunity here. I think President Clinton, in calling the 
Japanese on these trade policies, is beginning to do that on behalf of 
this country.
  I do not want a trade war. A trade war will not benefit anyone. It 
will hurt the world. But by the same token, we cannot have a post-
Second World War trade strategy which is essentially only a foreign 
policy by which we pay and everyone else wins. That is a strategy that 
continues to weaken our country. We ought to say our borders are open 
but yours must be, too. We believe in reciprocal trade policies. We 
believe in open trade and free trade, yes, but we, most importantly, 
insist on fair trade. It is long past the time when our country needs 
to stand for that. I am pleased that President Clinton is taking some 
action to confront the Japanese and now next it will be a number of 
other countries that treat us in exactly the same way.
  Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor.

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