Cord Byrd: “Japan simply cannot kick the habit of a closed automotive market, that is the antithesis of free trade. It is not clear…”

“Japan simply cannot kick the habit of a closed automotive market, that is the antithesis of free trade. It is not clear as to whether the Japanese will return to the negotiating table with a changed position, or whether Japan's automakers will themselves announce an agreement with specific measures of progress to allow American products to compete fairly there. Let us hope that they do break the impasse, but this disappointing result of strenuous, long-term efforts by the United States to get fair access to this lucrative market brings us to a watershed in our trading relations with Japan. This blow cannot help our overall relationship with a nation that we have worked with for decades to promote our mutual goals of security, stability, and peace in the Pacific. Japan rigs her market against us, despite economic pressures to be more open.”