BRITAIN CALLS ON JAPAN TO INCREASE IMPORTS

  Britain today called on Japan to
  increase foreign imports or risk the rise of protectionism and
  the harm it would bring to it and other trading nations.
      British Trade and Industry Secretary Paul Channon said
  Japan must heed a report issued by a Japanese government
  advisory body in December calling for faster domestic demand to
  help cut its trade surplus and restructure its economy.
      "I recognise that the strong yen has brought problems to
  Japan's domestic economy," he told a group of Japanese
  businessmen in London.
      "But these short term difficulties should not be allowed to
  deflect Japan from the fundamental reforms necessary," he said.
      "It is not just a domestic issue for Japan. If import
  propensity does not expand very soon there is a real risk from
  protectionist lobbies, particularly in the U.S. With whom Japan
  has so massive a surplus," he said.
      "They may well succeed in securing action by governments
  which would be highly injurious to trading nations like Japan
  and the U.K."
      Channon said there had been substantial growth in the
  volume of trade between Japan and Britain, amounting to 6.2
  billion sterling (9.8 billion dlrs) last year.
      But he added: "Regrettably too much of it was in one
  direction, with the Japanese selling us 3.7 billion sterling
  (5.8 billion dlrs) more than we sold them."
  

