Japan Charges Unfair Trade Practices : Economy: Reacting to foreign criticism, a report is released accusing several nations--especially the U.S.--of discrimination.

Firing back at foreign criticism, Japan branded several other nations, especially the United States, as unfair traders Tuesday.

A report accused the United States of unfair trade policies in nine of 12 areas studied, including measures against imports being priced too low, taxes on imports and restrictions on foreign bidders for government purchases.

It also alleged U.S. misuse of national security or environmental concerns as excuses for blocking trade and accused Washington of a tendency to make unilateral judgments outside international trading rules.

The European Community and Korea were charged with acting unfairly in six areas, ranging from anti-dumping measures to subsidies to certification systems.

The 265-page report by an advisory committee to the trade ministry, which did not analyze Japan’s trade policies, is Tokyo’s version of the U.S. trade representative’s annual report on trade barriers.

This year’s U.S. report, released earlier this month, accused Japan of discriminating against American companies in government procurement contracts. Construction, architectural and engineering services were singled out as the most closed.

The U.S. report requires that negotiations begin immediately in the areas cited and holds out the possibility of sanctions should they fail, but the Japanese report requires no specific actions by Japan’s government.

Of the 10 trading partners reported on by Japan, none came out with a completely clean record, although Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Canada were commended for being largely on the right track.

The report expressed particular ire over the “results-based” approach to solving trade issues, echoing concerns of Japanese government officials about what they call U.S. moves to manage trade.

“By relying on result-based criteria, as the United States does in a number of cases, a country sets itself up as both judge and prosecutor, thereby denying the possibility of due process,” the report said.

Under the results-based approach, a country suffering a trade deficit might call on a trading partner to cut exports or increase imports by a certain percentage to help redress the imbalance.

Tokyo has limited car exports to the United States for several years.

Japan had a trade surplus of almost $50 billion with the United States last year and an overall surplus of $106.7 billion.

The report also focused on U.S. plans to reclassify Japanese multipurpose vehicles as trucks under tariff laws.

The move is causing concern because imported trucks carry a high tariff, which would make the Japanese vehicles more expensive and thus less attractive to American buyers.