Bill Text: MI HR0054 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: A resolution to urge the President and Congress of the United States to pressure the Prime Minister of Japan to open the Japanese market to imported automobiles and automobile parts and to refrain from weakening the yen to give domestic companies a competitive advantage.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-12 - Referred To Committee On Transportation And Infrastructure [HR0054 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HR0054-Introduced.html
Rep. Geiss offered the following resolution:
House Resolution No. 54.
A resolution to urge the President and Congress of the United States to pressure the Prime Minister of Japan to open the Japanese market to imported automobiles and automobile parts and to refrain from weakening the yen to give domestic companies a competitive advantage.
Whereas, The principles of free trade require equal access be granted to the consumer markets of trading nations. When structural impediments exist that unfairly limit the access of one nation's businesses to the markets in another nation, it is necessary for the integrity of the trade relationship that these impediments be removed, especially when those impediments are protectionist by nature; and
Whereas, The Japanese economy, as the third largest economy in the world, is the fourth largest consumer of American-made exports and a significant trading partner with the United States, responsible for $181 billion in traded two-way goods in 2011; and
Whereas, Trade between the United States and Japan for automobiles and automotive parts remains an unbalanced relationship despite decades of attempts by the American automotive industry to gain access to the Japanese market. These attempts have been met with resistance, with little improvement since the 1990s. Moreover, while exports to Japan have increased 23 percent since 2010, the United States represents $52.1 billion of the $72.7 billion trade deficit for automobiles and automobile parts. Since 2000, American-made automobile exports to Japan totaled 183,000 units while Japanese manufacturers exported 16.3 million units to the United States; and
Whereas, For equal market access to exist between our two nations, as well as for the continued growth and recovery of the American automotive industry, it is necessary that the Japanese government pursue reform policies that increase import market access to American producers, similar to the access Japanese manufacturers enjoy now in the United States. Non-tariff barriers, like regulations that favor domestically-produced cars and the high vertical interconnection of manufacturing processes among Japanese companies, currently restrict or delay the importation of American-made products. At the same time, Japanese monetary policies unfairly provide a competitive advantage to domestic producers; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the President and Congress of the United States to pressure the Prime Minister of Japan to open the Japanese market to imported automobiles and automobile parts and to refrain from weakening the yen to give domestic companies a competitive advantage; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.
