Japan unveiled a road map Tuesday it said would open its markets to foreign goods, boost domestic demand and help its faltering economy in an annoucement Tokyo hopes will revive stalled trade talks with the United States.
But most of the details of the plan have yet to be worked out, and Tokyo stressed all measures were "voluntary" and the package would contain no firm targets for cutting its trade surplus or increasing market access."This package is nothing particularly path-breaking," said Robert Feldman, director of economic research at Salomon Brothers Asia Ltd. The package pledges to deregulate access of foreign firms in Japan as well as increase com-pe-ti-tion, imports, foreign investment and government procurement.
It also promises to boost domestic demand with tax reform and more government spending and provide better access to foreign autos, auto parts, medical equipment and telecommunications.
In the plan, the government forecast Japan's current account surplus would fall to 2.8 percent of its gross domestic product during fiscal 1994, which begins Friday. The surplus was 3.1 percent of GDP during fiscal 1993.
In announcing the package, Prime Minister Morihiro Ho-so-ka-wa called it a "bold" step to curb international criticism of the country's protected markets and said it would help improve the quality of life for Japanese citizens.
Hosokawa briefed President Clinton by telephone on the package early Tuesday.
A White House statement said Clinton "expressed appreciation for the prime minister's preview of the plan and noted he would study further details of the proposal when they were available."
Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata met with U.S. Ambassador Walter Mondale Tuesday and said he hoped the package would trigger fresh talks with Washington on a framework to cut Japn's $60 billion annual trade surplus with the United States.
The United States has pressed Japan to lower taxes and increase spending to bolster its foundering economy because a stronger economy should lead to consumers and businesses buying more foreign goods.
Two more Japanese carmakers - Honda and Mazda - announced plans Tuesday to buy more foreign auto parts, joining Nissan, Toyota and Mitsubishi in responding to U.S. calls for an improvement in the auto trade imbalance.