U.S.-Japanese Trade: When Good Is Not Good Enough

WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 3, 2008--The bilateral trade relationship between Japan and the United States is central to the development of global free trade, panelists asserted at an October 2 event at the American Enterprise Institute.

The efforts that the United States and Japan made to bolster their trade relationship following the turmoil of the 1980s have paid off. Since 2000, Japan and the United States have developed what Wendy Cutler, the assistant U.S. trade representative for Japan, Korea, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) affairs, called a "stable and mature economic relationship." Despite the occasional trade dispute, Cutler is certain that the U.S.-Japanese trade relationship is strong enough to deal with future problems. She argued, however, that sometimes good is not good enough, and that the United States and Japan must consider how to push their trade relationship to a new level, including such areas as ensuring food and energy security, considering a free trade agreement, and providing leadership in APEC.

Matthew Goodman of Stonebridge International identified a U.S.-Japanese free trade agreement as something toward which the two countries should work assiduously, acknowledging that attaining this "holy grail" would be difficult. Kenji Goto of the Embassy of Japan stressed that a U.S.-Japanese free trade agreement would be valuable not only bilaterally but also as a model of liberal trade alliances for the entire Asia-Pacific region, which is responsible for 50 percent of world trade.

With the failure of the Doha round of multilateral trade talks--AEI resident scholar Claude Barfield contended that the Doha round is dead--the global economy requires leadership and guidance now more than ever. Whether by cooperating to reform the failing World Trade Organization, creating a "gold standard" of regulatory practices for liberalizing nations to follow, or by guiding regional Asian institutions to the promotion of freer trade and economic liberalization, the United States and Japan together can lead the way in Asia and the Pacific Rim.

As Goodman stated, however, attempting to induce the United States and Japan to focus on improving an already compatible relationship while each faces a host of distractions will be difficult. In the coming months and years, new administrations in both Japan and the United States should endeavor to reinvigorate their partnership as a model for how to develop strong, interdependent economies.

      --JENNIFER GREGG

For video, audio, and more information about this event, visit www.aei.org/event1801/.  For more information about AEI's Asian Studies program, visit www.aei.org/asia/.

For media inquiries, contact Véronique Rodman at 202-862-4870 or vrodman@aei.org.

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