EC SAYS JAPAN CAR EXPORT RESTRAINT NOT ENOUGH
Japan's 1987 car export
restraint to the European Community (EC) is not enough, EC
external trade chief Willy de Clercq said.
    There are also strong signs Japanese exporters are
diverting cars to the EC after the dollar's fall against the
yen made their U.S. market unprofitable, he told reporters
after meeting U.S., Japanese, and Canadian trade ministers.
    The EC has agreed that if it detects an abnormal diversion
in Japanese exports from the U.S. To the EC market due to
currency movements over the past two years, it will move to
prevent it, he said.
    Over the period, the yen has risen against the dollar
almost eight times as fast as against the European Currency
Unit, he said.
    Japan has set an unofficial, voluntary 10 pct rise in car
exports to the EC this year as part of its efforts to stop its
rising trade surplus with the Community, which hit a record 18
billion dlrs last year.
    But Japanese car exports to the EC so far this year jumped
over 30 pct compared to a drop of 17 pct in U.S. Sales, and a
seven per cent fall globally. "We think there is some diversion
there," said de Clercq.
 Reuter
