Japan Too Slow to Reduce Trade Surplus, Dole Warns

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole assailed Japan today for moving too slowly to reduce its trade surplus with the United States and warned that congressional anger is “about to boil over” into retaliation.

In a speech at the Japan National Press Club, Dole said unemployment and the approach of the 1986 congressional elections could give retaliatory legislation the impetus it needs to pass Congress unless Japan opens its markets to foreign goods.

“I know the mood of the Senate and the American people,” Dole said. “They are demanding that something be done now.

“We can no longer avoid a trade confrontation. We have one. The time is past for gestures. Immediate action is needed.”

6 Influential Senators

Dole’s warning came after he and a delegation of six influential senators, including Sen. Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, met with Minister of International Trade and Industry Keijiro Murata.

The group will meet Tuesday with Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and other Japanese officials to seek swift new measures to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with Japan, which is expected to reach a record $50 billion this year.

Dole pointed to “hundreds” of protectionist-oriented bills up for consideration on Capitol Hill--some targeted on Japan--and warned that several are likely to pass and withstand a presidential veto.

“The protectionist pot is about to boil over,” he said.