Senators Skeptical About Japan’s New Trade Plan

Senators reacted skeptically today to Japan’s latest plan to lower trade barriers, saying that previous programs lacked substance and that the new version should not sidetrack get-tough legislation.

“I hope the new announcement amounts to something, but I must say that I am skeptical,” Sen. John C. Danforth (R-Mo.) declared. “Therefore, I believe Congress should still enact legislation insisting on results and imposing penalties on Japanese products if results are not forthcoming.”

Danforth, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s trade subcommittee, said the United States has “heard fine-sounding words before and seen very little by way of results.”

Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, top Democrat on the trade subcommittee, said he had yet to read the Japanese plan “but given past experience, I’m skeptical.”

“The Japanese bureaucracy long ago mastered the hidden trade barrier,” Bentsen said. He said there was “little reason to believe” the new program would be effective.

At the White House, a cautious presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said it was “difficult to determine from the announcement whether the program will remove the bulk of these barriers in a timely fashion, so we must reserve judgment until the effects of the program on our exports is realized.”

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said an analysis by the Congressional Research Service found that “many of the components (of the plan) have been contained in previous packages.”

“This is the seventh such package announced by the Japanese since 1981,” Levin said. “It should not be surprising that we are less than optimistic.”.

Details of plan, Part IV, Page 3.