Current Happenings and the US Trade Deficit

Currently Japan has the upper hand in trade relations with the US. Car shipments from Japan have recently rose six percent and America’s trade deficit soared to $12.7 billion in January. The trade deficit with Japan accounts for $4.3 billion of that total. Imports, and Japanese imports in particular, are cheap for American consumers because of the strength of the dollar. This also makes American goods more expensive in overseas markets. US manufacturers are genuinely unhappy with this however a recent study conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Gallup Organization found that 46% of Japanese and Americans consider mutual relations to be good, and the number people believing ties to be bad is the lowest for both sides in the last decade.

Matthew Perry
Meiji Restoration
World War I and inter war years
World War II
Allied Occupation
60s and 70s
80s and varied treaties
Introduction