Japan and Protection

The Growth of Protectionist Sentiment and the Japanese Response

In the 1980s, the extent of Japanese export penetration into other Western economies, particularly the USA, became a matter of international concern. There were demands for Japan to reciprocate on imports, for the Japanese market to be 'opened up' and, by some people, for sanctions or a trade war if the Japanese did not respond. This book, first published in 1989, examines the growth of protectionist sentiment and the Japanese response to it. It examines in detail the debates within Japan and discusses the measures which the Japanese took, including the voluntary export restraint measure in the motor sector. It concludes that, broadly, the Japanese did indeed respond to world demands for their market to be opened up but that successful exporting to Japan depended equally on efforts by Western companies to service that market, which they were slow to do.