merican and world markets. US TV makers went bankrupt or left the industry, as they could no longer fund research to continue making improved and high quality TVs. They could not compete with the artificially low Japanese TV prices in America and were forbidden to enter the Japanese market to take advantage of the high prices there. Hence, the US makers could not make money. Furthermore, secret deals to spoil US customs, which are illegal under US trade law, were set up by Japanese TV makers and US retailers such as Sears and Montgomery Ward to sell Japanese TVs under store brand names. At the same time, the Japanese mounted an important lobbying effort in Washington to ensure that this scheme was not disrupted by the US government or customs services. As a result, once famous brands such as Sylvania, Quasar, Admiral, Philco and RCA have vanished or are foreign/Japanese owned. Zenith is the only remaining US TV maker today. No US companies make VCRs although they were an American invention (Choate 63).In the 1980's the Japanese applied this same strategy to the computer flat panel display industry (also invented in the US) and now completely dominate that industry as well. Before that, they took over motorcycles, machine tools, and computer memory chips (Melloan A15). It will be happening again in the financial services industry, telecommunications equipment, kitchen/washing appliances and aircraft manufacturing during the twenty-first century.Several misleading claims are made in the media about how the trade situation today with Japan is fine. These will now be dispelled. One claim states that Japan is opening its market because it has increased imports by 9% in 1986-87 and 18% in 1988. This is a half-truth because Japanese exports during the same period increased by much more than that. In other words, the trade gap got bigger, not smaller between Japan and its trading partners. Furthermore, the trade deficit with Japan is actually w...
