Japanese Urge End to Auto Export Curbs

Japanese auto makers called today for an end to government restrictions on auto exports to the United States that have been in place for most of the 1980s.

At a news conference, Normasa Furuta, vice chairman of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Assn., said the group has met with officials of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to express its views.

He told reporters Japanese car makers are united on the issue despite press reports that some of the association’s weaker members want the quotas retained because they fear excessive competition.

In Detroit, spokesmen for the Big Three U.S. auto makers had no immediate comment on the JAMA announcement.

Last year Japan voluntarily agreed to restrict car exports to the United States to 2.3 million in the year ending next March 31, the same level as last year.

Quotas were originally placed on shipments of Japanese cars to the United States in the early 1980s. Sales of U.S.-built autos had plummeted in the face of an energy crisis and subsequent recession, and American consumers began buying increasing numbers of fuel-efficient Japanese-built small cars.

The Japanese government agreed to voluntarily limit auto exports to the United States when members of Congress threatened to impose legal restrictions on imports.

Analysts say the auto quotas were a key factor in Japanese auto makers’ decision to build cars in the United States. Production of these “transplant” autos is expected to reach 1.2 million in 1989, up from 800,000 this year, and approach 2 million by the early 1990s.