Nothing could be further from the truth. Our goal with the framework agreement is to expand trade, pure and simple. If we are successful, negotiated openings in Japan's market will be passed along to all trading countries. As a result, exports and access to Japan's market for foreign goods and services will increase. Ultimately trade expansion will translate into more production, more jobs, lower costs for consumers, and more rapid economic growth in Japan and the rest of the world.
Japan is the second largest economy in the world and an economic superpower.
But the Japanese economy performs in a manner that sets it clearly apart from other major industrialized countries. This is very evident by looking at Japan's low level of manufactured goods imports and inward foreign direct investment. The small role that imports and foreign firms play in Japan's economy relative to other industrialized economies is repeated in specific sectors such as telecommunications, insurance, and motor vehicles and parts. Japan is the world's second largest market for telecommunications products. Yet, Japan's global import share of telecommunications products is 5 percent, while the average for the other G-7 countries is 25 percent.