AFTERMATH OF THE BUSH TRIP : Iacocca Calls for Retaliation Against Japan : Autos: The Chrysler chief’s bellicosity notwithstanding, Japanese and U.S. auto makers have tentatively agreed to meet in the United States next month to continue trade talks.
Less than 24 hours after returning to the United States from a Japanese trade mission, Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee A. Iacocca said Friday that the United States is getting its “brains beaten in” by Japan and should retaliate soon.
Iacocca’s bellicosity notwithstanding, top Japanese and U.S. auto makers have tentatively agreed to meet here next month to continue the trade-related talks begun in Japan during President Bush’s Asian trip, company officials said Friday.
“The group was in general agreement to continue the discussion, and a February time was suggested, and that was generally agreed upon,” said Ron Theis, a spokesman for international affairs at General Motors Corp.
It was not clear which executives of Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. would attend. But a follow-up meeting between the dueling auto industries could cast a more positive light on the outcome of the President’s trip, which has been widely viewed as both a political and economic failure.
In his remarks at the Economic Club of Detroit, Iacocca delivered a far more pessimistic appraisal of the trade mission than the upbeat tone the White House struck Friday.
“I need some time to sort things out,” Iacocca said, “but I’ll agree with the quotes I saw from Red Poling and Bob Stempel this morning: too little, way too little!”
Ford Motor Co. Chairman Harold A. Poling, who joined Iacocca at the Economic Club luncheon, and GM Chairman Robert C. Stempel, still on his way home Friday, offered more muted, but similarly dissatisfied remarks at the conclusion of the talks in Tokyo Thursday.
The Big Three chiefs were among 18 U.S. executives who accompanied President Bush and Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher on three days of meetings with Japanese business and government officials.
A loose agreement was reached that includes a modest increase in the number of American-made cars imported by Japan, a doubling of Japanese auto parts purchases by 1994 and a relaxing of tough Japanese vehicle certification polices.
But the Japanese refused to adopt the Big Three’s joint proposal that the $41-billion trade deficit--three-fourths of which is accounted for by automobiles and auto parts--be reduced by 20% each year for the next five years.
Iacocca, known as a veteran Japan-basher, was especially harsh in his criticism Friday, his tone often heavy with sarcasm and sneering disdain.
“If they don’t like our cars, then you’d think they could take some American parts and help shave the auto trade deficit,” Chrysler’s combative leader said. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Those parts are good enough for Mercedes and BMW, but not good enough for Isuzu and Daihatsu.”
That comment, and others, earned Iacocca a standing ovation from his packed audience of 2,500. Originally intended to kick off Detroit’s North American International Auto Show, which opens to the public today, Iacocca’s speech focused on Japanese trade policy and what he called the United States’ “colonial” relationship to Japan.
Despite his biting remarks on the results of the presidential trade visit, Iacocca praised President Bush for including American business leaders and sending a message to Tokyo that American companies are fighting back.
