A New Type of US-Japan Trade Relationship

• Get updates on trade, Customs and regulatory changes
• Stay informed on trade compliance seminars,
  workshops and industry events

x

By David A. Parker, The Diplomat Oct 28, 2014

On the surface, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker visiting Tokyo on her first trade mission to Asia seems routine. After all, Japan is one of America’s largest commercial partners, with nearly $400 billion in goods and services traded between the two countries annually, and is also a key participant in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

But far from a commercial sideshow in advance of President Barack Obama’s visit to the region next month, Pritzker’s first official trip to Japan highlights a quiet transformation in U.S.-Japan economic relations. After years of “Japan bashing,” followed by years more of “Japan passing,” mutual reinforcement between America’s commercial rebalance and Japan’s economic revitalization is bringing Washington and Tokyo closer than ever to sharing a genuine vision for their economic relationship.

Beyond bringing representatives from twenty American healthcare and energy firms, this visit also has special historical significance. The last major U.S. trade mission to Japan was in January 1992, under the leadership of then-president George H. W. Bush, who memorably succumbed to a bout of intestinal flu and during dinner vomited on his host, then-prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa. This was in the midst of the trade wars between the United States and Japan over automobiles, and White House claims of “clear and measurable gains” from the trip did little to dampen cries from Detroit for retaliation against Tokyo’s alleged unfair trade practices. That year also marked the onset of Japan’s “lost decades,” during which the country averaged roughly one percent GDP growth per year – and one prime minister every other year.

Read Full Article on The Diplomat »