European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Trans Pacific Trade War Japan stumbles Over Success by Charles j. Hanley associated Pressa t 6 45 . All across Japan Iho office lights stay Iii. Above Tokyo s Neon Sloe to there in Blue Collar Toyota City on South to no nonsense Osaka the japanese Are working overtime and they have finally caught up. At some Point in recent months As the Dollar fell and the yen Rose in Makto Japan s per Capila economic output finally eclipsed America s $18.100 to $17.703, by one estimate. And that in t All the japanese also have replaced the americans As the world s biggest Landers. And Japan lha land itself is Worth More at $5 trillion or so than All the developed real estate in the United states Mitsui Bank researchers Ca Culala. These Are the Bottom line numbers of Success. But Success itself now threatens the japanese. Their High powered Export machine sold $60 billion map in goods to the United states last year than they bought from the americans accounting for one third of the huge . Trade deficit. The . Congress As a result is weighing a counterattack punitive actions against Japan in what some in Washington Are calling a Trade  in one unprecedented move. President Reagan on March 27 announced stiff new duties on As much As $300 million in japanese imports in retaliation for alleged japanese dumping of computer microchips. On the Assembly line Al Toyota City s Tsutsumi Plant the beat of Success goes on. Every 70 seconds Blue uniformed workers and finely tuned robots finish off another Toyota for shipment across Japan to America or elsewhere around the world. But in the executive suites of Japan s no. 1. Manufacturer the mood is subdued. Toyota and other japanese automakers have once again this year agreed to pull their punches to limit the number of cars they Export to the United Stales. I Don t think it was necessary Masami Iwasaki. Toyota executive vice president grumbled to a reporter. But we were obliged to follow suit obliged by a japanese government anxious to head Oil a fateful clash with an America the japanese believe is in a historic decline. A Japan times editorial caught the mood these Are precarious times Lor Japan and the  dozens of interviews on both sides of the Pacific with business government and labor leaders with economists diplomats and scholars found Broad agreement that the two economic superpowers have entered a dangerous period in 1987 and must work together More closely than Ever to safeguard a relationship that in just two generations has transformed enemies into partners in history s greatest flow of trans oceanic Commerce. That relationship $112 billion in two Way Trade last year 2.2 million travellers is readily seen in the Sony. Sushi bars and Sanyo factories that have spread across America and in the Coke machines Ivy league degrees and 50,000 american troops that Are fixtures of japanese life. The next Century s economic course May be set by these two technological giants tied together by investment instantaneous information networks and hypersonic transports that will make Tokyo a three hour hop from new York. Japan s Progress has not always been smooth. Currently the rising yen is slowing the Export machine. Toyota Lor example has reported a 44-percent decline in earnings. The unemployment Rale has edged up to 3 percent. But unemployment is still Tow by world standards Toyota still earned Over $1 billion last year and economists say he nation of 122 million people stands today on a Rock solid economic base the japanese succeed with a unique Bland of discipline and flexibility they Are devoted to education they Are prodigious savers and on their crowded resource poor islands a . Diplomat says the japanese Are the beat Blue Collar workers in the  Alphua they cherish Harmony and cooperative Effort. Japan s company sponsored labor unions work closely with management and rarely strike. Toyota broke the Back of a militant Union in the 1950s by firing thousands of workers. Japan has been governed for 32 years by a pro big business parly the Liberal democrats whose unbroken Rule is sure to continue. The japanese train Large numbers of engineers specialising in manufacturing. The government s powerful bureaucracy Over the years identified and nurtured the most promising industries. On the factory floor where Money machine and Man come together it is the worker lha stands Oul. They Are simply the Best Blue Collar workers in the  conceded an admiring . Diplomat. There in Toyota City a drab company town rimmed with Rice paddies 165 Miles South of Tokyo Tho Assembly line workers All male All relatively Young impress the visitor with their Speed Economy of movement and attention to the Job at hand the japanese not Only work hard. They work Long an average 2,152 hours a year Compa de with 1.89b Tor americans. They care about their company s pc Romance. Pulling in Many hours of unpaid overtime and. Al Toyota uttering 2 million suggestions a year an Avo go 32 per employee. The hard working Man combines with a Well designed machine. Japan has More than 40,000 welding unloading and Assembly robots four limes Mare than the United states american management experts estimate Toyota builds twice As Many cars per employee As american automakers. Success took Lime. As recently As 1980, Japan s Trade balance was in the red. But the shipments of aulos. Steel video recorders and other goods pushed the accounts deep into the Black through the 1980s. And the United Stales More and More was the destination taking 40 percent of Japan s exports in 1966. At the same Lima american exports to Japan levelled Oft. Older american Industry unable to compete eliminated hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. The . Government reacted. In Trade talks it turned up the pressure on the japanese accusing them of freezing out american products. Some facts belie this. Japan s average Tariff on in Perls now stands at Only 3 percent. The us. Average is 4 percent. Japan also has removed old regulatory barriers to Many imports. But . Negotiators complain that cozy arrangements among the japanese still Block american goods. La s almost a family  Bruce smart. U s undersecretary of Commerce explained in a Washington interview. At Toyota a satellite company May have capt Al put up by Toyota be managed by former Toyota executives and employ retired Toyota workers it knows whal Toyota needs in  it an american parts company comes along with a better Deal. Smart said. Toyota often turns it away besides Aulo parts american negotiators Are targeting other areas including the building of a new Airport in Osaka where . Officials say american contractors have been largely excluded and Japan s Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday april 12,1987