Strong U.S.-Japan Ties Urged : Representatives of Both Nations Hear Deukmejian

Reflecting Japan’s increased economic stature in the United States, Gov. George Deukmejian called on Japanese and U.S. officials Monday to “keep our relationship strong” and “work even harder to lower trade barriers.”

Deukmejian spoke at the 20th Japan-American Conference of Mayors and Chamber of Commerce Presidents in downtown Los Angeles, becoming the first California governor to attend the session since the every-other-year event began in Tokyo in 1951. He joined Tokyo Governor Shunichi Suzuki, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and 349 delegates from some 90 cities in the United States and Japan to explore the conference theme of “Harmonizing the Japan-American relationship.”

Some of the speech-making at the conference at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, however, focused on the recent tension between the United States and Japan in the wake of Congressional pressure on U.S. Trade Representative Carla A. Hills to cite Japan and other countries for imposing unfair trading barriers on U.S. products. The U.S. trade deficit with Japan last year was $52.1 billion and is projected to be $50.1 billion in 1989.

Sharp Reaction

Nobuo Matsunaga, Japan’s ambassador to the United States, reacted sharply to the U.S. criticism of Japan in a lengthy and emotional speech to conference participants.

“It is a mistake to observe the economic relationship of Japan and the U.S. in an adversarial way,” said Matsunaga. “It is also a misunderstanding to think that trade imbalances resulted from trade barriers.” He said other factors such as lower U.S. personal savings rates and big U.S. budget deficits have contributed to trade imbalances.

“I do not deny that there is more to be done by Japan in order to sustain the prosperity and the stability of the world,” Matsunaga continued. But, he said, “the tide of frustration seems to be increasing toward Japan when the substance of our relationship is (actually) improving.”

Yet even Deukmejian, who credited Japan with playing “a significant role in” creating economic “prosperity” in California, voiced criticism at the conference about Japan’s failure to lower its trade barriers to U.S. goods. “Just as we have opened our markets to our friends overseas, we would like them to reciprocate by opening their markets to us,” Deukmejian said.

The conference, which is alternately hosted by Japan and the United States, has long been an important forum for addressing critical issues affecting the two countries. Organizers said this year’s conference drew a record number of participants.

“There is great potential for a mutually profitable relationship,” said Walter Beran, former chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and head of the conference organizing committee.

Looking for Businesses

Among those hoping to profit was delegate Bill Harris, the mayor of Lincoln, Neb.

Harris said two companies based in Japan have built plants in Lincoln since the city began attending the Japan-American conferences to woo new business.

“You need to show them you appreciate their business,” Harris explained. “They like to know their investment is safe. And it’s safe in Lincoln, Nebraska.”

But most conference participants from east of the Rocky Mountains were less hopeful about wooing Japanese investment--an attitude Mayor Bradley attributed to general American pessimism about U.S. economic relations with Japan.

“There is a difference between the attitude of Washington and California,” regarding relations with Japan, Bradley said. Noting that in contrast to the United States as a whole, California has a positive trade balance with the Japanese, Bradley added: “If everybody else were as aggressive as we have been (seeking trade with Japan) we wouldn’t be having this discussion” at the conference about trade deficits.