However, the cost of transportation, which would normally escalate each individual price, was paid for by the Japanese government. The pioneering inventors of the electronic marvel were forced out. No longer able to compete by meeting rapidly declining prices, companies had to stop production, liquidate all available assets, and release their entire work force. This equates to nearly twenty million skilled American workers without jobs. Reciprocal trading contracts would definitely curb the exponential loss of manufacturing jobs.
Trade barriers are the largest problems facing American companies in overseas markets.
The obstructions are sometimes overt, sometimes hidden and usually extremely complex. Deals are covertly impeded with complicated licensing and import procedures. Regulations concerning special specification standards and testing of American goods are hurdles deliberately enacted to block fair trade. If foreign governments were mandated to treat American businesses the same way native companies were treated, free commerce would truly be achieved. The U.S. has used an arsenal of tools to try to mitigate unfair trade practices and enhance U.S. access to overseas markets.