Congressional Research Service Reports - 32 Matching Results

Search Results

Results: 1 - 24 next
open access

China in Transition: Changing Conditions and Implications for U.S. Interests

Description: Americans disagree as to whether or not China poses a serious security concern for U.S. interests in peace and security in Asia and the Pacific. Many point to rising Chinese defense capabilities and assertive rhetoric to warn of Chinese military- backed expansion. Others judge that the main danger comes from China's weakness. They argue that the possibility of an emerging breakdown in government authority in China could prompt regional disorder and refugee flows seriously undermining Asian stab… more
Date: January 5, 1994
Creator: Sutter, Robert G. & Kan, Shirley A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan's Politics and Government in Transition

Description: Japan's politics and government are undergoing a historic transition. The 38-year one-party rule of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) came to an end on July 18, 1993, when the party was voted out of power, even as it remained the single largest party in the lower house of Japan's bicameral Diet, or parliament. Seven non-communist parties, with little in common save their shared interest in dethroning the LDP, formed a shaky coalition.
Date: January 21, 1994
Creator: Shinn, Rinn-Sup
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan's Keiretsu: Industrial Groups as Trade Barriers

Description: A prominent feature of Japan's capitalism consists of families of companies called keiretsu that are linked by crossholdings of stock shares, intra-group financing, and certain coordinating mechanisms. Two types of keiretsu exist: large horizontally organized industrial conglomerates, such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo, and vertically integrated manufacturers, such as Toyota, Nippon Steel, and Matsushita Electric. They have become a contentious issue in U.S. trade negotiations with Japan … more
Date: January 30, 1994
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

China: Current U.S. Sanctions

Description: In the months following China,s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, both the President and the Congress took a number of initiatives protesting Beijing's actions. These initiatives centered around U.S. concerns related to trade, human rights, and non-proliferation. In intervening years, the United States has periodically imposed, lifted, or waived other sanctions and concluded several trade- related agreements with China relating to these concerns. Those measures that remain in place in 1994 are… more
Date: February 8, 1994
Creator: Dumbaugh, Kerry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan's Economy: From Bubble to Bust

Description: In the 1980s, Japan's economy posted strong economic growth, in stark contrast to the more pedestrian growth other developed economies experienced. In this period, referred to as the "bubble" economy, Japan experienced a sharp increase in the values of land and stocks. The fast paced growth came to a halt in 1991, however, as the Ministry of Finance grew concerned over prospects of a rising rate of inflation, and, accordingly, tightened the nation's money supply. Since then, Japanese economi… more
Date: March 8, 1994
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan's Budget: Role in Economic Policymaking

Description: The Japanese economy has been in recession for three years, making it the longest recession in Japan's post-war experience. Groups within and outside Japan are calling on Japan to adopt aggressive fiscal policy measures to boost the Japanese economy and to aid in the recovery of the world economy. Japan has enacted a number of limited measures to stimulate, but it is unlikely to move more aggressively to adopt deficit-financing measures to stimulate its economy for a number of reasons: politica… more
Date: March 29, 1994
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Korean Crisis, 1994: Military Geography, Military Balance, Military Options

Description: The United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) currently seek ways to convince the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it should forego the manufacture of nuclear weapons, initially by allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct full inspections of suspected facilities. North Korea thus far has refused, although it did agree to an incomplete examination of declared sites early in March 1994. This report reviews military options open to each side as the United … more
Date: April 11, 1994
Creator: Collins, John M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

China's Most-Favored-Nation Status: U.S. Wheat Exports

Description: By June 3, 1994, President Clinton must determine whether or not to recommend to Congress a one-year extension of his Jackson-Vanik waiver authority, in effect extending most-favored-nation (MFN)[1] trading status to China for anothe year. The media are reporting that the President has not yet decided whether he will ask for an extension, and that he may also be deliberating over whether or not to attach conditions to a recommendation for approval.
Date: May 24, 1994
Creator: Ek, Carl & Epstein, Susan B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

JETRO and International Trade Promotion by Japan

Description: JETRO, the Japan External Trade Organization, has played a key role in Japan's system for trade promotion. It is a public corporation, a quasi-governmental organization, operating under the general supervision of Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
Date: June 10, 1994
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

A "Managed Trade" Policy Toward Japan?

Description: This report examines: (1) the definition(s) of managed trade, (2) the underlying economic arguments for and against such policies, (3) past U.S. experiences with managed trade, (4) perceptions that Japan is somehow "different" from other trading nations and warrants a distinctive approach to resolving trade disputes, (5) the implications of the Administration's current results oriented approach to U.S.-Japan trade issues, and (6) alternative proposals offered in Congress to resolve trade disput… more
Date: June 14, 1994
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.; Cooper, William H. & Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Granting Most-Favored-Nation Status to China as a Market Economy Country

Description: It has been suggested recently that most-favored-nation (MFN) status be extended to China permanently by determining that it is no longer a nonmarket economy (NME) country and thus removing China from the purview of the freedom-of-emigration waiver of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, required for the annual renewal of the MFN status of NME countries.
Date: June 15, 1994
Creator: Pregelj, Vladimir N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Defense Burdensharing: Is Japan's Host Nation Support a Model for Other Allies?

Description: This report reviews data that the Administration has provided to Congress on the costs of U.S. forces based abroad and on the value of host nation support contributions. It analyzes the data in order to assess potential defense budget savings from measures now under congressional consideration. The report concludes that, because of shortcomings in the data, estimates of savings in the U.S. defense budget from increased host nation contributions are often overstated. Some commonly accepted asser… more
Date: June 20, 1994
Creator: Daggett, Stephen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan's Ongoing Political Instability: Implications for U.S. Interests

Description: The surprise election of Socialist Party leader Tomiichi Murayama as Prime Minister on June 29, 1994, reflects an ongoing process of change and realignment in Japanese politics that, in the short term, has made the management of U.S.-Japan relations significantly more difficult and impeded the resolution of important issues. Although Murayama has pledged continuity in U.S.-Japan relations, and key cabinet posts have been given to senior LDP leaders with experience in dealing with Washington, hi… more
Date: July 8, 1994
Creator: Cronin, Richard P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

South Korea's Economy and Trade

Description: South Korea has become a mid-level economy with a growing consumer market and industrial base. It now is in transition. It can no longer compete easily in low-wage, low-technology manufacturing with other countries of Asia, yet it does not have the technology and expertise to compete fully with industries from Japan, the United States, and Europe.
Date: July 15, 1994
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

North Korea After Kim Il Sung

Description: Kim Il Sung died on July 8, 1994, the only leader North Korea had since its founding in 1948. His death raises several questions about future stability and the strong U.S. interests on the Korean Peninsula.
Date: July 20, 1994
Creator: Shinn, Rinn-Sup & Sutter, Robert G.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

China-U.S. Trade Issues

Description: The growing U.S. trade imbalance with China, and alleged Chinese unfair trade practices, have become of major concern to many U.S. policymakers. Over the past few years, the U.S. trade deficit with China has grown at a faster rate than that of any other major U.S. trading partner. In 1993, the U.S. trade deficit with China totalled $22.8 billion, the second largest U.S. bilateral trade imbalance after Japan. Many trade analysts have attributed the growing U.S.-China trade deficit to a variety o… more
Date: July 28, 1994
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan's Uncertain Political Transition

Description: Japan's current political instability began in July 1993, when the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) -- in power since 1955 - was voted out and replaced by a fragile multiparty coalition government under Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa. The new government faced turmoil in April 1994, when Hosokawa suddenly resigned amid a personal financial scandal. Then-deputy prime minister/foreign minister Tsutomu Hata succeeded, but only at the head of a minority government after the Socialist party, a key co… more
Date: July 29, 1994
Creator: Shinn, Rinn-Sup
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan-U.S. Trade Negotiations Under the Framework: Status and Alternative Approaches

Description: It has been more than a year since the United States and Japan established their bilateral framework for trade negotiations and other economic relations. The framework set down rules and deadlines to address various economic issues, particularly market access in Japan for U.S. exports and the Japanese global trade surplus. The two sides have failed to reach agreements on any of the major issues. The United States is left with several policy options to resolve the breakdown in trade negotiations. more
Date: August 2, 1994
Creator: Cooper, William H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Yen/Dollar Exchange Rate

Description: The dollar declined abruptly in value against the yen in the second quarter of 1994, spurring the central banks of seventeen nations to coordinate a series of intervention efforts in the world's currency trading markets. In addition, the dollar's decline sparked discussions of the possible policy moves the United States and other nations might take to stem the fluctuations in the value of the dollar. Economic theory and empirical evidence indicate that the underlying movement of the exchange ra… more
Date: August 9, 1994
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

China's MFN Status: Implications of the 1994 Decision

Description: On May 26, 1994, President Clinton announced he was recommending that MFN status be extended to China for another year despite Beijing's failure to meet the human rights conditions set forward in his Executive Order of the previous year (Executive Order 12850). In addition, the President announced he was taking additional steps with respect to China, including: maintaining U.S. sanctions imposed as a result of the events in Tiananmen
Date: August 15, 1994
Creator: Dumbaugh, Kerry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Current U.S. Sanctions Against China

Description: In the months following China's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, both the President and the Congress took a number of initiatives protesting Beijing's actions. These initiatives centered around U.S. concerns related to trade, human rights, and non-proliferation. In intervening years, the United States has periodically imposed, lifted, or waived other sanctions and concluded several trade-related agreements with China relating to these concerns. Those measures that remain in place in 1994 are de… more
Date: August 15, 1994
Creator: Dumbaugh, Kerry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Japan's Looming Bank Crisis: A Half Trillion Dollars in Non-Performing Loans?

Description: Japan's top 21 banks have reported Y13.6 trillion (US$136 billion) in non-performing loans, but experts consider the true figure to be in the range of Y40 to Y60 trillion (US$400 to US$600 billion). If 90, Japan's banks may take five to seven more years to write off their bad loans and restore health to their balance sheets. Current write-offs are being financed primarily by sales of stocks held by banks whose values have appreciated. This problem of bad loans is depressing Japan's economic gro… more
Date: August 19, 1994
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen