Japanese exchange rates, export restraints, and auto prices in the 1980s.

FOREIGN exchange rates; EXPORT controls; AUTOMOBILES; ECONOMIC competition; AUTOMOBILE industry; PRICES; INTERNATIONAL economic relations

JAPAN; UNITED States

The article reports on the impacts of Japanese exchange rates and export restraints on prices of domestically produced automobiles in the U.S. in the 1980s. According to the author, changes in Japanese exchange rates affect the prices of U.S.-manufactured light vehicles. During the 1980s, sales of vehicles imported from Japan made up 17 percent to 22 percent of overall sales in the country. Intense competition from Japanese brands generated calls for trade protection. In 1981, the Japanese agreed to voluntary export restraints on their automobile imports to the U.S. market.