Obama Urged To Seek WTO Action Against Japan For Unfair Clunker Program Rules

When our Cash 4 Clunkers program started I said to myself, why does this not apply to ONLY CARS MADE HERE IN THE USA? That would help our jobs and stimulate our economy. I guess were to dumb to figure that out but Japan did.

You say that like there aren't any.

*looks at what has actually made it into Japan*

ha! The most fuel efficient vehicle sold there is the Camaro. Man those trade restrictions are tough if they don't want anything that could possibly compete directly with their pop can toyotas and hondas.

I hope Obama will tell them to get lost. These sour grapes losers want to force a bunch of Chevy Tahoes down Japanese throats. Japan has strong standards for fuel efficiency and pollution to create a healthier society, they don't need our junk. Maybe US should have paid attention to it instead of selling out to big oil, then we'd have efficient cars that could compete with what Japanese make

I thought that the only reason US cars aren't allowed was because they did not undergo emissions testing in order to have a lower price point and that only cars that had undergone emissions testing were allowed? Does anyone know for sure?

To qualify for Japan’s C4C program, new vehicles must meet the 2010 Japan fuel economy standard of >15 kilometers per liter ~ 35.5 mpg, making 87 percent of Japanese-made vehicles on sale in their home market eligible for the credit of up to $2,800. In fact, the Japanese program does not even require a clunker to trade in, although without giving up an inefficient vehicle, the best credit available is a mere $1,132.

Only the Ford Fusion Hybrib may meet this requirement.

Any other Detroit 3 (american made if you are concerned about USA jobs or elsewhere if you are not) that can obtain 35.5 mpg?

There was an article recently on Autospies that debunks this alleged anti-American bias. To summarize:

(1) US car makers have enjoyed, and continue to enjoy a special status in which their vehicles are *not* required to pass Japan's emissions requirements. This saves US auto-makers millions in emissions certification tests, and arguably, it gives them an unfair advantage in Japan. Emissions certification is *optional* for US makers.

(2) Japan's Cash for Clunkers program is designed with a focus of getting rid of older, more polluting and less efficient vehicles in favor of newer, less polluting, and more efficient vehicles. Regardless of make! Therefore, only vehicles that meet specific emissions requirements and fuel efficiency qualify for this program.

(3) All that US auto-makers need to do to qualify for this program, is to obtain the emissions certification to prove low emissions, and meet the minimum fuel economy requirements stipulated by this program. This is what the US automatically-makers are crying about. They want to be exempt from this too, crying "discrimination."

One perspective, that of the UAW and friends, is in spite of the special privileges that Japan has already extended to US auto-makers, Japan should extend even *more* special privileges to be "fair" to US makers. Another perspective is that the lazy US auto-makers have taken advantage of every break and special dispensation they have had so far, and they still have not pulled up their socks to be able to compete with foreign automatically-makers in a global market. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

Damned word-processor replaced "auto" with "automatically" in the above text. Sorry about that.