Japan's decision to exclude foreign automakers from its cash-for-clunkers program is part of a larger pattern of discouraging imports that the United States cannot afford to tolerate anymore, a Ford Motor Co executive said in an interview.
"This is about frankly a bigger issue than the Japanese scrappage program. This is about them starting to deliver the kind of market opportunities that their companies have taken advantage around the world for so long," said Stephen Biegun, Ford vice president for international governmental affairs.
Ford, General Motors Corp and Chrysler sent a letter to U.S. trade officials last week complaining about conditions in Japan's fleet renewal program they say bar U.S. automakers from participating, even though Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co got a big share of the U.S. cash-for-clunkers program.
"Despite being the world's largest exporter of vehicles, with over 2.1 million exported to the U.S. alone last year, Japan remains the most closed auto market in the industrialized world, with less than 5 percent import participation," the American Automotive Policy Council said.
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