Once More, With Backing

IN THE SEASON OF SUMMER SEQUELS, THE REMATCH last week between U.S. and Japanese carmakers, self-described as the Big Eight of the world auto industry, drew very little attention. Meeting for four hours behind closed doors at a suburban Chicago hotel in a session that all the participants described as "subdued" and "serious," the dueling automen returned to the central issue of their tarnished visit to Tokyo last March: the $43 billion trade deficit between the two countries, nearly $30 billion of which comes from Japanese auto products.

This time, however, the chiefs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler had more than just the powers of reason and persuasion on their side. Almost simultaneously, a congressional committee in Washington was considering new production limits on Japanese cars, including even those manufactured in the U.S. More stunning to the Japanese, the Commerce Department ruled for the first time that Toyota and Mazda were illegally "dumping" minivans in the U.S. market. The Big Three American executives brushed aside the timing of these public actions as "only coincidental."

Industry analysts believe there is an even more compelling reason why the Japanese may finally open up their domestic markets to Detroit's products, which include an estimated $19 billion in American-made parts for use in Japanese-built vehicles. The Tokyo stock-market crash and Japan's ongoing economic slump have brought increasing financial problems to Japan's carmakers in their home market. Nissan is even expected to report a loss this year. It is no time to alienate the U.S. as a customer. Many trade experts see good news emerging from this turmoil: a recognition on both sides of the realities of interdependence and the need for accommodation.