Unfair Advantage? Japan To Start Controlling Yen Again To Favor Exports And Minimize Imports

I read somewhere the Yakuza like Caddys, so you never know.

Is this all you can say? The same old regurgitated crap about hard working Americans.

So Uncle Sam can print the money to lower USD while other countries cannot counter-act? I'll say fxxk WTO let's go back to tax everything imported.

thank you. hey 009, go look up QE1 & QE2 before you write headlines like this one.

"Koreaspies"

- Winner!!!! LOL!!!!!!

What's wrong with looking out for #1?

bloody hell, what a title..
You think the economy of Japan has risen the 40-50% that the Yen has risen over the US dollar.. Do you really think costs have risen 40-50% in Japan that the Yen has to apprpociate so much over other currencies.. It's just global money men (Fed and co) destroying Japanese manufacuring, like what they've tried to do in USA..

So the japanese government is just trying to fight back ...

One could argue that building cars in Mexico and paying the workers cents on the dollar per hour gives the automotive manufacturers in North America an unfair advantage.

It's amazing to me that someone would even mention "uaw" in connection to this topic (Ok, not really).

But allow me to ask this question... In the early 1970s, did we lose American consumer electronics manufacturing because of the UAW, or some other union? Answer carefully, because I'm prepared to offer evidence of officials in the governments of Japan and the US who played roles in destroying this industry.

Small sample from a book I'm writing...
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Japan, so often held up as a model of free-market capitalism by many in the U.S., and has never been hampered by concerns over what might be decried as “big-government-central-planning” in America. Japan’s notorious Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) took steps to organize its electronics industry along the lines suggested by Sarnoff and the RCA specialists, through the Electronics Industry Development Emergency Law, enacted in 1957. The law outlines the organization, direction and provided financing through the Japanese Development Bank. It’s much the same as the turn-of-the-century American trusts, such as Standard Oil, but on an international scale. A first step would be the recognized-as-illegal practice of “dumping” electronic goods. These goods are exported to the United States at a loss, but the loss is countered by high prices in Japan’s home market, which is closed to foreign imports.
To prevent competition among Japanese cartel members, each was assigned exclusive U.S. customers. Typically, these were major department stores like Sears, J.C. Penny’s, Montgomery Ward’s, etc. (the Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart of their day). Usually, they were sold under “house brand” names, e.g., “Silvertone” at Sears, rather than something as foreign-sounding as Hitachi. This not only allowed them to escape any lingering animosity from a WWII-era consumer base, it also allowed the predatory scheme to fly further under the radar.
The Japanese cartel was fixing prices in Japan at least 40-50% higher than similar sets destined for sale in the United States. One notable exception to this practice was Sony, which surely benefited from the higher Japanese market prices, but did not discount its products in the U.S. Instead, Sony had chosen to occupy the “premium” space in the U.S. market, rather than make inroads based purely on price. Sony’s reputation as a higher-priced product would reflect well on other Japanese brands, once they were ready to step away from being re-badged with American-sounding names, and sold exclusively through U.S. department stores.
Japanese manufacturers had captured the entire U.S. portable radio market with a similar (although less lucrative) dumping scheme. Thus by 1968, facing declining sales and finding no further means of cost reduction, Zenith was forced to end U.S. production of portable transistor radios. They were the last holdout. Zenith executives had seen the handwriting on the wall for the more profitable television market as early as 1960, and reasoned that American competition would lower prices in the Japanese market, thus ending the cartel’s ability to endure losses from predatory dumping in the United States. Beginning in 1961, Zenith decided to enter the Japanese market....

Huu, where do you see me letting US officials off the hook? I DO blame them for allowing foriegn markets to be protected, while granting them free access to our own markets.

Close look at closed markets, footnoted and detailed:

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Zenith management contacted C. Itoh and Company, a major Japanese trading company for help in distributing Zenith products in Japan, which had proven popular at trade fairs and demonstrations throughout Japan. However, this effort would soon meet with failure as Zenith was met with a virtual firewall of Japanese government protectionism.

In a translated letter from C. Itoh, it was explained, “[Ministry of International Trade and Industry] (MITI) would not allocate the currency, because Zenith products are exceedingly popular in the market here.”

Undaunted, Zenith management made a second attempt to begin importing, this time though another trading company by the name of Nichimen. Again, the effort proved futile.

A final letter was received from Nichimen to Zenith management, dated May 16, 1963
After several publicity and news releases on the intention of our company to market Zenith’s product line, there was an abrupt halt to the entire program. Although the reasons for this halt have never been fully explained to me, I feel they were due to the following reasons:

1. The Japanese Electronic Industry Association’s pressure to the Government;
2. The Japanese Electronic Industry’s pressure to the leading chain and department stores;
3. An attempt to pressure our company and persuade us by various means not to indulge too aggressively in the distribution of these products.

A third, all-out effort was made with C. Itoh in 1963. This was again met with resistance and delay. Eventually, the idea of exporting into Japan was given up.

You very rarely see an Asian person driving an American Car.Reason is they want to give business to the country they are from. They will condemn amercan products no mattter how good the product is.They protect their markets with hefty taxes but ours is a free market.If we had the same policy the Asians would say "Cheby bery good" because they want to live here but hate American products.Americans should boycott foreign cars untill its a level playing field.

Blaming Americans:

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"“Whether our files of correspondence and old purchase orders should be purged will have to be discussed with our legal people” .

In essence, this memorandum suggests the destruction of evidence that favored Zenith’s claim - triggered as the result of a knowledge gained from a deceitful source within the Treasury Department. During the course of investigation in a subsequent case, it was learned that the attorney who most likely sounded the alarm was William Tanaka, the Japanese cartel’s main customs council. Interestingly, Chief Treasury council Donald Ritger later left his position with the government to become a partner in Tanaka’s private law firm; subsequently renamed “Tanaka, Walders & Ritger”. Earlier, it was Ritger who expressed “grave international concerns” in trying to dissuade Zenith from going forward with dumping charges, and related how “entertaining” he found the Japanese trade officials love of golf… An observation he made while engaged in social engagements with foreign representatives charged with violating U.S. trade law.

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"In 1976, GTE-Sylvania filed a “dumping” complaint using a newly establish portion of the trade act of 1974. Within a few months, the International Trade Commission (ITC) announced its own investigation of customs fraud and anti-trust violations related to television importation.

At first, Japan refused to grant visas to the team of Sylvania lawyers who were seeking to gather evidence. Later, the Departments of Treasury, State and Justice intervened… To prevent the ITC from investigating, viewing the customs records, and finally by claiming the Justice Department had the sole authority to investigate anti-trust matters!

While the various Executive branches of government delayed the ITC investigation, Japanese color television imports had increased from just over one-million units in 1975, to more than 2.5 million units in 1976. At the beginning of 1977, the Customs Service (perhaps unaware that they were supposed to be looking the other way) announced that documents regarding the importation of electronic goods into the United States may have been falsified. It seems that Gambles department store had inadvertently made a duties payment that reflected invoices with two sets of prices; one higher for Customs, and one lower for the department store.

This prompted Customs to review the documents Zenith had filed in its earlier attempt to prompt a dumping investigation. As Zenith had claimed, it revealed the rebate scheme designed to mask the below-market prices Japanese manufacturers were using to gain dominance in the U.S. market and drive American manufacturers into bankruptcy. It also highlighted kickbacks to individuals and supported possible prosecutions for fraud.

In the Spring of March 1979, the New York Times reported that the Alexander’s department store chain pled guilty in federal court to a customs fraud charge c

If the Japanese are so clean Mr 1911 why are they trying to manipulate the Yen.Give it up.Also you did not respond to my Volt challeng.Whats up with that.Are you Eldard with a new name.

Manipulating any currency by any country against the US dollar should trigger an automatic 25% tarrif against that country doing business with the US.The American worker in All US based industries should be protected at all costs. We have over 14 million people unemployed and underemployed. Too many industries have dissapeared from our shores due to the Eastern Pacific Rim and now China. Enough is enough! Congress should act now!

1911, If you want more recent research you can buy the book.

I'm using a case history from 40-years ago because the American consumer electronics industry is no longer in flux. It vanished in the early 90s in large measure because it couldn't "go gobal", and because our own government refused to enforce its own laws.

The failure to enforce those laws comes as a result of the executive branch having control over such matters. They're all "appointees" with careers that will span no more than 8-years (best-case). That makes them very inclined to change priorities to please future bosses. Do you think Mashushita will offer you a job as legal council if your were a tough adversary 3 years earlier?

As to your constant claim of "chicken tax" (25% tariff on trucks as a result of Germany refusing American chicken imports beack in 1962)... It has never been a legitimate factor in preventing the importation of trucks from Japan. In the 80s, they simlply shipped the truck to US ports without the beds bolted on. In the port, they were "finish-assembled", thus not subject to the tariff.

1c3am5..
whata load of crap.. no one would buy your one sided opinions..

The japanese Yen aleady has been manipulated upwards by wall street, so what is wrong with Japan keeping a check on unusual movements ?

On another note, japanese car companies have more producton in USA than US car companies in the US themselves.. unless you count mexico as part of USA of course !! haha...