    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [May 10, 1995]
    [Pages 677-678]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Trade With Japan
    May 10, 1995

        For more than 2 years, I have committed my administration to a
    bipartisan effort to open world markets. I have done this because where
    markets are open, Americans compete and win, and that means more high-
    paying U.S. jobs.
        Over the past 20 months, my administration has made every effort
    through negotiations to remove obstacles to Japan's auto and auto parts
    market. Unfortunately, those negotiations have not produced meaningful
    results. Today we announced U.S. action in response to the continued
    discrimination against U.S. and foreign competitive autos and auto parts
    in Japan. I want to underscore my strong support for these actions.
        At my direction, my administration will finalize a preliminary list
    of Japanese goods for retaliation. I also have directed Ambassador
    Kantor to send a pre-filing notification to the Director General of the
    WTO, indicating our intent to pursue a WTO case against Japan's unfair
    trading practices in the auto and auto parts sector.
        Japan is a valued friend and ally. Our political and strategic
    relations are strong. Even in trade, we have worked together to promote
    successes in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) and the
    Uruguay round of the GATT. It is in the context of this overall strong
    relationship that we must directly address our differences.

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