Japan Inc is taking seriously the content of the report on trade barriers released last week by the US Trade Representative, Carla Hills, which insists that market forces were not working in sectors of the Japanese market such as telecommunications, supercomputers, semiconductors, high definition TV and other high-tech industries such as medical equipment: in particular, the report controversially cited examples such as the Japanese government’s intervention in the market for educational personal computers in support of the localy-developed Tron operating system; US supercomputers have not sold widely in Japan, partly because of the academic discount system which may need up to 80% off list price, and government procurement documents still have technical specifications that favour the incumbent Japanese suppliers; government bodies may not buy imported communications satellites if purchases interfere with development objectives, while US firms trying to enter the optical fibre market in the last decade have not fared very well.
