U.S.-Japan Talks Stall Over Glass
Trade talks between the United States and Japan faltered this morning as negotiators failed to finalize an accord on Tokyo’s flat-glass market.
Adding to the gloom, Japan’s trade minister said he was pessimistic about fresh talks on the contentious automobile sector.
News of the latest hiccup in trade ties buffeted the dollar in early trading Tuesday, and the U.S. currency remained weak despite Bank of Japan intervention to prop it up. The dollar was trading at about 96.80 yen in midmorning.
The two sides agreed in principle Oct. 1 to open Japan’s $4.5-billion market for flat glass used in the construction and cars, and they pledged to finalize the accord within 30 days.
A Japanese trade official said negotiators made progress in the glass talks that began last Wednesday and broke up early this morning, but said problems remained.
“We made real progress, but there are still technical and practical problems to resolve,” said the official from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
“I can’t comment in detail, but there are overall problems . . . including the measures to be taken by the Japanese government and by the U.S. government, and how to explain all this on paper.”
The official said no date had been set for resuming the glass talks.
A U.S. source here said Washington would issue a statement on the talks confirming that there had been progress but no conclusion, but he refused to discuss what steps, if any, the United States would take next.
The Oct. 1 agreement had persuaded U.S. officials to refrain from unilaterally targeting Japan’s flat-glass market under a U.S. trade law for possible future sanctions.
Washington has said Tokyo operates a cartel in glass, with three Japanese producers holding a constant market share despite outmoded and costly practices.
“The U.S. flat-glass industry is a globally competitive industry that successfully competes in every major glass market in the world except Japan,” said a statement by the U.S. flat-glass industry early this year. “While U.S. companies are not successful in Japan, it is not due to lack of effort, but to the closed nature of the Japanese glass market.”
