Japanese carmakers emerged from Wednesday's 11th-hour trade negotiations with Washington with hardly a scratch, say analyst who follow the Japanese auto industry.

"The Japanese got away with not doing much at all," said Matthew Ruddick, analyst at James Capel Pacific Ltd. "You have to say the Japanese came out far more favorably."Threatened with a 100 percent tariff that would have hit luxury models valued at 5.9 billion last year, Japan's five major automakers unveiled plans to increase overseas production and promote car imports and purchases of foreign parts.

The plans, which call for Japan's carmakers to increase North American production by about half a million vehicles a year for the next three years, played a key role in helping the United States and Japan clinch a trade deal.

In truth, however, the proposals contain little that's new, analysts said. The plans repeat measures the automakers have announce, publicly, over the past year.

View Comments

In a clear win for Tokyo, the United States failed to achieve a key aim of getting Japan's carmakers to set specific targets for purchases of foreign parts. And the U.S. government said it wouldn't retaliate against automakers if they didn't meet forecasts for increasing overseas production.

Japanese automakers were quick to point out Thursday that the plans merely state how much capacity the carmakers will have at their overseas factories, not the actual number of cars they predict they will manufacture.

"The forecasts are for capacity, not production levels," said Masami Iwasaki, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Dist. by New York Times News Service

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.