The American Response

Abstract

By the beginning of the 1980s America had become increasingly concerned about the threat of Japanese competition; electronics companies in particular were calling for government intervention to curb what they considered to be an excessive level of Japanese imports. The Japanese strategy of targeting particular market segments, and then using their highly developed manufacturing techniques and marketing skills to produce and distribute high-quality low-cost products, had already won them the lion’s share of the world consumer electronics market (televisions, stereos, calculators, electronic toys and digital watches), and was beginning to threaten the US semiconductor industry.