[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                UNITED STATES-JAPAN INSURANCE AGREEMENT

 Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I rise today to express, once again, 
my profound concerns over the Japanese Ministry of Finance's [MOF] 
behavior regarding the United States-Japan Insurance Agreement. I have 
written several times to the Finance Minister of Japan and the 
President of the United States and spoken directly with the negotiators 
involved in this matter, yet Japan continues to fail to fulfill its 
obligations under the agreement to increase access to its insurance 
market for foreign competitors.
  And now, according to reliable reports, MOF intends to take steps 
that would actually violate the agreement. On or soon after October 1, 
MOF apparently will allow Japanese companies to enter the third sector 
of Japan's insurance market, the only sector in which foreign companies 
have any consequential presence. If MOF takes this action, I believe 
Japan will have clearly violated the agreement.
  I have particularly great concerns with the Ministry of Finance's 
behavior on this issue because it calls into question the entire 
Government of Japan's willingness to fulfill its written commitments. 
That is why I consider this the most serious trade matter facing our 
two countries.
  Mr. President, our patience has been tested by the continuing refusal 
of Japan to honor its commitments. If MOF now chooses to violate the 
agreement, the United States will have no choice but to take 
appropriate actions in response. I want the Ministry of Finance and the 
Government of Japan to be under no illusions about how strongly I would 
view such a violation. I will be working closely with Chairman Archer 
of the House Ways and Means Committee in urging the White House, the 
USTR, the Treasury Department and the Department of State to take 
appropriate actions in response to any violation of the 
agreement.

                          ____________________