Japan Warns Against Buy American Provisions

(Journal of Commerce Online – Alan M. Field)

Letter to U.S. Trade Representative asks for change in appropriations bill

The government of Japan sent a letter of concern to the United States concerning the Buy American provision included in an appropriations bill recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, an anonymous official in the Japanese Foreign Ministry told Reuters.

In the letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Japan's Ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, expressed concern about a provision in the House appropriations bill for energy and water development that said funds should not be used to buy cars other than those manufactured by Ford, GM or Chrysler, the so-called 'Big Three' U.S. manufacturers. The U.S. Senate will soon vote on the bill.

In the letter, Ambassador Fujisaki asked USTR Kirk to urge the Senate to exclude that provision from the appropriations bill, the official said. Read more here.