Industry News
GM chief economist testifies against alleged Japanese currency manipulation
11th May 2007
General Motors’ Chief Economist G. Mustafa Mohatarem told three Congressional committees at a hearing this week that the Government of Japan had deliberately weakened the yen to promote its exports at the expense of U.S. and other global manufacturers, providing billions of dollars in subsidies to Japanese automakers.
"Over the past several years, the Government of Japan has engaged in at least four strategies to keep the yen weak and thus to provide an enormous subsidy to Japan's vehicle and auto parts exporters," said Mr Mohatarem.
"These approaches include maintaining huge exchange reserves and obtaining authority to purchase additional reserves as a signal to currency traders of its intent to keep the yen weak; intervening massively in currency markets, especially from 2002 to 2004; sending signals of possible interventions to the currency markets - so called 'jawboning'; and purchases of dollar-denominated assets by quasi-public entities and private investors spurred on by the government's commitment to a weak yen policy."
The hearing on "Currency Manipulation And Its Effects On American Businesses And Workers" is conducted jointly by the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Trade; the House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology; and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
"Japan's policies provided anywhere from a $2,000 to $14,000 cash windfall for each of the 2.2 million vehicles Japan's automakers exported to the U.S. in 2006," continued Mr Mohatarem. "This amounts in total to a more than $13.5 billion annual subsidy on imported vehicles and parts used to assemble vehicles in the U.S."
"This unearned windfall, which is documented in the profit reports of Japan's auto companies, has been a major factor in the success of Japanese auto companies in the U.S. It has contributed significantly to the loss of hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs in our auto and supplier industries; it is a major source of the nation's nearly $90 billion U.S. trade deficit with Japan; and it has contributed to the severe economic decline in my home state of Michigan and in many other communities in America," said Mohatarem.
A copy of Dr. Mohatarem's testimony can be found at
www.autoyensubsidy.org.
The Japanese government’s Foreign Ministry responded yesterday that the 2007 National Trade Estimate report released last month by the U.S. Trade Representative, accusing Japan and 62 trading partners of erecting unfair barriers to American exports, was ''inaccurate.''
Japan was among 63 trading partners mentioned in the 2007, with Japan receiving the third most coverage with 31 pages reviewing its trade policies.
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