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Article: Is trade between the United States and Japan off-balance?
- Article from:
- Finance & Development
- Article date:
- September 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 International Monetary Fund. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CONTRARY to popular views, an IMF study shows that Japan's current account surpluses are a reflection of trends in saving and investment rates rather than predatory behavior of Japanese producers and government. Moreover, Japanese trade patterns appear to be as responsive to market forces as those of other major industrial countries.
"If the [trade] balance would be in favour of France, it would by no means follow that such a trade would be disadvantageous to England....If the wines of France are better and cheaper than those of Portugal, or its linens than those of Germany, it would be more advantageous for Great Britain to purchase both the wine and the foreign ...