The anger and frustration had been growing apace with the trade deficit with Japan: $22 billion in 1983, $37 billion last year, more than $40 billion expected this year. As Congress looked on with dismay, U.S. negotiators reported little headway in prying open Japanese markets. Then Japan delivered the coup de grace, announcing a stunning 24% increase in auto exports to the U.S. this year, after the Reagan Administration had removed "voluntary" quotas. That ill-advised move prompted both houses of Congress last week to threaten trade retaliation against America's largest overseas commercial partner.
The House, following the lead of the Senate...
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