[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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