With Friends Like Japan Who Needs Enemies?

 

*Note To Our Friends and Supporters:

 I personally want to thank the many people who have been so thoughtful and encouraging with their overwhelming response of emails.  Your advice and information has been extremely helpful in your effort to explain how you view this serious matter of defrauding the transportation system and the American people.  This support was surprising but is very welcome and I invite you to keep up your communications with us. 

Thank you so much.

Mike Biras

BACKGROUND: Why should Americans be concerned about Japan and its relationship with the United States?  Everything in trade is competition between the two countries, or is it?  Instead of competition or trade is it actually something we call espionage? 

FACTS: Japan has systematically attacked American industries wiping them out of the U.S. but reproducing them again in Japan. Some of the industries are: Televisions were dumped through Sears, the polymer mold ejection system moved off shore (critical technology for the U.S.), 5.5 million tons of steel dumped ruining the U.S. steel industry, machine tools dumped (need the tools or cannot manufacture), etc.  Science and technology is important for the U.S. the Director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) stated in a speech on Capitol Hill that $1.1 billion of the Science and Technology Budget for the Department carries $700 billion of the U.S. economy.

STATEMENT: Our American automobile industry according to Detroit News is at the heart of the economy and has created a $60 trillion equation since the inception of the Model T.  It is now in a shambles compared to its former self when the auto companies showed its true calling of a National Defense Industry providing support for the U.S. military in WWII by developing all sorts of weapons systems.  We should have known that we would have a problem with Japan and its auto makers.  What is so mysterious is the answer to the question of "how did we get here?"  "How could our industry go from being so powerful to going bankrupt and needing government help?" 

To have this happen to such a strong industry is strange.  It was either helped along by someone or our government made some bad decisions, or it is a combination of both suggestions. The difficulties were instituted by the Japanese auto industry and they were deliberately created.

The weakened yen" is a Japanese government policy deliberately affecting the American auto industry and will be explained in another section of the paper.  (Later in the paper it explains how the Japanese banks were buying up second and third tier suppliers for the auto industry.)

NISSAN MOTOR CO: We should examine thoroughly this so-called friendship that Japan has with the U.S.  There are three Japanese automobile companies in the U.S. which catch the attention of the American people.  It is important to remember that foreign auto companies, particularly the Japanese companies, regardless of how they operate in the United States are still beholden to their home government and its laws. 

Nissan Motor Co originally came to the U.S. as Datsun in 1958.  Toyota Motor came almost at that time and Honda followed suit very soon.  From the time the Japanese companies arrived they have aggressively moved against the American automobile industry with the backing of the Japanese government.  We will examine the record of Nissan Motor Co before going into the history of Japan's behavior.  

The size of the American auto and vehicle market is a prize for the Japanese and other foreign automakers.  The U.S. has one quarter billion registered automobiles and vehicles today and is the largest car and vehicle market in the world.  As loyal Americans we must never forget that the American auto industry helped create "Mainstreet USA" and our middle class and it is essential to "our national security". 

Why is Nissan Motor Co and Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp's (NMAC) behavior in the U.S. important for us to examine?  Their behavior in general is called to question, not only for breaking U.S. laws but for something that occurred when the CAFE standards were raised affecting the U.S. car industry far more than the Japanese. Nissan pushed the higher mileage of 34 miles per gallon because of the environment. Nissan pushed these mileage changes on the American auto industry and laughed about it.  The CAFE standards were raised a few years ago causing a problem for the U.S. industry but not for Nissan who had exemptions for the standards because of their manufacturing in Mexico.

It is ironic that Nissan is "held harmless" from all environmental and hazardous federal and state laws in its contract with the State of Mississippi for the Canton, MS plant. Again, Nissan has shown a disregard for the law making no attempt to observe it but make the State pay for any mistake that Nissan makes in violation of the law.  

It was at that time that the Japanese openly bragged about their control over members of Congress.  At that time it was reported that Japan controlled a number of seats in Congress. The numbers ranged from 115 to 215.   Whatever the number one is too many because this is the American Congress which should be concerned with supporting the efforts of American manufacturers. 

NISSAN AND BREAKING THE LAW: Another story relating to the company is that both Nissan and NMAC have "been caught red handed" defrauding the American public while the government has looked the other way so it has seriously injured the American legal system by the Nissan lawyer "thumbing his nose at the system" and stating on letterhead that "this is standard business procedure."  Since when is securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, title fraud, odometer fraud, interstate commerce fraud, SEC fraud and tax fraud acceptable and a standard procedure in the American legal system and in the titling of cars in our automobile industry. 

The laws governing the auto industry in the U.S. must be very strict in licensing and identifying the history of the car because of the auto industry and its impact on the country and our economy.  Establishing the identification and titling of an automobile is done under both Federal and State law.  With such a huge market of one quarter billion registered cars and vehicles the U.S. must be precise and strict in managing the law because it plays an extremely important role in creating jobs and the American economy.  With faulty records, cheating the government and other businesses we would very quickly not be able to rely on their financial records.  The government and American business as well as the American public take financial records very seriously. 

Nissan ignored all these requirements by retitling over 50 cars, altering the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin (MSO's and rolling back the odometers ranging from 50 miles to over 100 to just 5 or 10 miles and showing the cars without any history of ownership calling them new.  The investigator on the case stated "it was the worst case in over 40 years and that no American car manufacture has committed such a crime. 

In fact, when American manufacturers have learned of the Nissan case they are absolutely stunned and wonder how a foreign company could get away with this.  The answer is espionage and having the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission with its membership of Americans helping to smooth the way for them on their illegal activities.  Unfortunately, the Japanese have used this legitimate Commission as a "Fifth Column" to tell a friendly story about Japan while the Japanese companies are undermining the American industry which is essential to our national security.     

In its contract for the Canton Plant with the State of Mississippi, Nissan signed under the title of "compliances with laws and ordinances" that "tenant, at its expense, will comply with all material, federal, State, County and City laws and ordinances and regulations of any duly constituted authority affecting the Site. That contract also states that the Plant is managed by the parent co, Nissan Motor Corp which also means that the parent company in addition to ignoring American laws governing the titles and odometers is also responsible for any laws broken at the plant.

How can Nissan sign such an agreement when they have already broken all U.S. laws governing the sale of the cars that Nissan is in the business of manufacturing?  In addition to this Nissan is asking the State to help them acquire federal funding and asked that 75 percent of all HUD funds for the State of Mississippi be set aside for Nissan's use for two years.  

As we examine what Nissan has done illegally and how it affects the government and American citizens, perhaps we should also examine how Nissan and other Japanese carmakers have maligned the American union workers.  What is important to remember is the Japanese government is paying Nissan, Toyota and Honda with "weakened yen" checks which amounts to subsidizing the Japanese manufacturers with checks from $3,000 to $12,000 per vehicle according to the Chief Economist for General Motors. Stephen Collins, President of the Automotive Trade Policy Council, Inc. (ATPC) wrote in Real Clear Politics that "Honda, Nissan and Toyota combined openly reported $7 billion in unanticipated windfall yen profits in a recent 18 month period ending late last year (which was 2006).

The Federal funds from the U.S. government, plus the abatement funds from the State plus the Japanese government's "weakened Yen" checks means the checks from two governments (the U.S. and Japan) are used to subsidize Nissan against the U.S. auto companies.  In this case, most pronouncements by the Japanese have been against General Motors (GM) because it was the largest automobile company in the world. 

In addition Nissan was quickly the first in line for $1.5 Billion of TALF Federal Reserve funding, Clean Air Funding from the Energy Department for $1.5 Billion and 75 percent of the HUD funds for the State of Mississippi for two years and the tax abatements from the State of Mississippi.  It also received free land for its Canton, MS plant and $1 billion 94 million dollars in original funding from Mississippi. There is a credit of $5,000 per employee which runs for 30 years and it also runs for their auto suppliers.  Nissan has received a Foreign Trade Zone in a free port which makes it possible to import and export "in perpetuity with no fees charged." 

This paper would be too long to explain the overly generous abatements and the work that our Federal laboratories are doing to help Nissan.  The company also pays only 1/3rd the ad valorem taxes due the schools in Mississippi so the school children are cheated.

IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING/JOBS: An article in the Sunday Washington Post, "GM shows that it's playing the Beltway game" quotes David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research about manufacturing.  He stated "The big issue is that at the policy level, we in the U.S. have very little understanding of the importance of manufacturing in the economy. He said that every job at an auto manufacturer supports nine other jobs in the economy.  Our legislators in Washington have no understanding of this."

RICH TRUMPKA/ AMERICAN JOBS: Actually, manufacturing and its role on the economy is understood by Rich Trumpka, President of the AFL-CIO. During the Reagan Administration there were meetings discussing off-shoring of American jobs.  At one policy dinner in the White House Mess there were twenty people meeting in the evening to discuss off-shoring of jobs.  One of those people was Rich Trumpka, Chairman of the United Mine Workers. 

Mr.Trumpka stood up an announced to the group he would not be a part of sending American jobs off shore. He said this more than once while the Deputy Secretary of Labor was presenting the issue.  Two or three days later there was a meeting of 125 people chaired by Secretary of Labor Bill Brock.  Rich Trumpka was sitting on the stage with the Secretary and other prominent labor people. Again, when Secretary Brock said they could keep one-sixth of the jobs in the country, Trumpka immediately stood up and announced to the group he would not be a part of moving American jobs off shore.  Listening to him, Trumpka totally understood the importance of manufacturing and what it means to the economy, to our educational system and to maintaining and establishing a middle class which is essential for running and governing a country.  Trumpka understood the whole process.

Japan has presented the auto workers as costing too much though the Japanese auto industry is subsidized by both the American taxpayers abatements, federal funds the Japanese companies acquire and weakened yen checks which makes the Japanese companies profitable while hollowing out American jobs.  In addition, Nissan paid their workers in Japan a bonus of $18,300 and Toyota paid, $22,200 to their workers. 

RIENDS OF JAPAN: The Japanese government had asked what made the United States a great economic power in 1886.  At that time they sent Korekikyo Takahasi to the U.S. Patent Office for six months to see what the U.S. was doing.  At the same time the U.S. had other Japanese interests come to the U.S. during the reign of President Ulysses S. Grant.  Mitsui came during that time.  In 2007 the U.S. Japan Society celebrated its 100th birthday in the U.S.  

The Japan Society along with the creation in of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission which was established by Congress as an independent agency in 1975 together provides support for training and information to help prepare Americans to better meet the challenges and opportunities in the U.S.-Japan relationship". Currently serving on the Commission are Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Rockefeller (D-WV) from the U.S. Senate.  The Commission has a membership of people which "reads like the who's who of America".

Basically the "Friendship Commission" serves as a public relations arm for Japan.  It explains that Japan is "our friend" which "colors" the way Americans look at Japan's political and trade activity involving the United States and American companies. 

RESTORING JAPAN'S ECONOMY: The Commission reflects an attitude of friendship but the hostility and competition which existed between Japan and the U.S. was best shown with the activities of Saburo Okita.  His charge was to develop a support base for Japan from the developing world.  There has been a strain of continued war mentality in Japan with the U.S. which was first expressed by Saburo Okita in January, 1942.  (Okita later became Foreign Minister, Finance Minister and for a short time Prime Minister of Japan.) 

Okita was a man of great influence and chaired the group to put together the economy of Japan before the end of WWII. Every aspect of the economy and the path of post war construction for Japan was examined by his group, which, at one time numbered 2,000 people working for Okita on this project.  Okita was successful in his plans and by the 1960's and later was calling for "the world's advanced developed countries to cooperate in achieving a more equitable allocation of resources and income through aid and trades. (It is a transfer of wealth for the world which Japan hopes to control.)

Saburo Okita sold this policy of the transfer of wealth from the industrialized world to the developing world all over the world until even Michael Moore, Director-General of the WTO stated that this is no longer about trade but is about the transfer of wealth from the industrialized world to the developing world.  (Remember, Japan's goal is to lead a new society of the developing world.  That would roughly be 147 plus nations.)

In his memoirs Okita explained that he originally had not been certain that Japan would be allowed to rearm at all, but thought it would be a blessing in disguise if it did not.  He said, "Japan did not have the qualities of a first-class power, but she could excel as a second-class power".   

He then stated "an army in uniform is not the only sort of army.  Scientific technology and fighting spirit under a business suit will be our underground army.  This Japanese-American war can be taken as the khaki losing to the business suits."  This was the first declaration of an economic war by Okita.

This economic declaration of war was later picked by Akio Morita, former President of Sony.  He told a friend that "we knew we could not defeat the United States militarily but we could economically."   These declarations seem to be the policy that Japan has followed in dealing with the U.S.

(Actually, Japan has the second largest economy in the world.  It has the second largest Navy and would have had the second largest air force if the U.S. had sold them the 100 F-22's they wanted.  They are the third largest nuclear generating power in the world, but some people in Japan claim they are number one.)

JAPAN ECONOMIC RESEARCH CENTER: Japan and Okita became very involved in planning for the world institutions.  In November 1963 Okita became Director of the newly-formed Japan Economic Research Center which hosted U.S. officials such as Bill Seidman, Larry Sumners, Allen Greenspan and others at his international meetings on the banking system. 

      The Center also hosted the biannual Trilateral Japan-North American - European Economists Conference with the cooperation of the American Brookings Institution (which also played a major role in the Clean Air Act).  He also sat with David Rockefeller in setting up the Trilateral Commission.  (His pronouncements were policy.)

JAPANESE SUPPLIERS: In 1987 Barron's Magazine was reporting that "some of the Japanese Banks are over here quietly buying second-and-third-tier suppliers, acting as frontmen for the auto companies, noted Peter Van Hull (who, was director of North American auto consulting activities for Arthur Anderson and Co.)  "They're doing so, he said as part of an effort to recreate the whole interlocking network of auto makers, parts suppliers and financial institutions that they have in Japan."  This system was quietly being moved south from the Detroit area. 

Van Hull explained that "the driving force behind the auto parts makers from the Orient was "the fast-growing lineup of Japanese auto and truck assembly plants in North America.  The vehicle manufacturers that have built those plants, Nissan, Honda, Toyota and a growing array of lesser lights - have intimate and long-standing relationships with suppliers back home.  And they'd like to continue them in the U.S.A."  This movement by the bankers made it possible to attack the American auto industry and how the Japanese did business in the U.S.

*Note: When the Japanese government wanted to achieve something for the business world it called together major businesses, government, academic and the leading people in the industry to work out a plan for which there was coordination by the government.  This is how the U.S. patent system was attacked and every achievement for the government was exercised.

JAPAN AND THE US PATENT OFFICE: Just what is this so-called friendship that Japan has with the U.S.?  Japan coveted the U.S. patent system and undermined its Constitutional requirements as a teaching tool by shredding America's one of a kind 200 year old paper patent library which included the American classification system was the most comprehensive and only technical teaching library of its kind in the world. 

In the 1990's the Patent Office threw out the "Chemical Abstract System" which served the Chemical industry and was American owned for the East-West System which was owned by Japanese Company.  At that time the company established a complete back-up system in Albany, New York, just in case the U.S. system crashed.  This effectively gave the whole U.S. patent system to the Japanese. 

In effect, the American patent system was changed in the 1990's and in this decade to harmonize with 72 other countries and this course was begun by Japan who originally targeted the U.S. patent system in 1886 when they sent Takahasi to the U.S. for 6 months to investigate the system.

Japan is responsible leading the changes of the American system from the best in the world to where inventors have to fight to maintain their patent even before it is issued because it is published on the internet after 18 months.  The whole intent of the patent system has been changed and is not protecting our technology and is seriously affecting the way our economy is created.       

It takes money and time to invent and if we make it impossible for inventors to benefit by destroying the patent system and letting everyone look over the inventor should as they transgress the patent system to obtain a patent, then we are as a nation eating our own seed corn as well as the inventor's. We all loose by treating the inventor irresponsibly.  The inventor’s dreams become out opportunities as a nation!!

There are now instances where the patents have been pulled back by defense industries to keep the technology from being published.  Japan has openly led this attack on the U.S. patent system.  Today there are symbols for Japan and the European Union outside the U.S. patent office.  Over 50 percent of the examiners are Asian.  From 1990 until now the United States system which was secret protecting the inventor which made the U.S. a great economic power has been destroyed.  

OUR ECONOMY AT RISK: This is a serious blow to the U.S. economy and to many industries.  Why attack the patent system and the automobile industry at the same time?  The answer is to dismantle our economy, and our national security is accomplished by reversing the original intent of the U.S. patent system which covers the American Industrial Base with patents, creating jobs and new businesses.  National security is affected (our monetary welfare) because the Industrial Base sets the military funding for the nation and patents cover our military hardware earning monetary returns for the U.S. not only for our own security but for global arms sales and all trade. 

The heavy construction industry also relies on equipment with patents and is 12 percent of the basic GDP.  It is part of our National Defense Base.  This also involves the auto industry which companies make basic equipment for the construction industry. It was the heavy construction industry which carried the Federal government for a year building airbases for WWII and putting in the REA towers for power.  The government did not have the money to pay for the bases so the construction companies footed the bill until the government could reimburse them. 

TODAY'S STORY: A recent story In the Washington Post, "U.S. struggles to keep step with Japan's shifting foreign policy", and the would be new Prime Minister's jeremiad (lamentation or mournful complaint) against U.S. style capitalism, and advanced a contradictory view about Asia in which the United States appeared at once welcome and unwanted."  (Notice the problem is with the American style capitalism which is effectively being changed by a number of issues led by the Japanese including changing the patent system and the financial rewards for ideas.

The story went on reporting that "administration officials argued, the U.S. security relationship with Japan - which for 60 years was the cornerstone of U.S. policy in Asia would be

business as usual".     

The Philadelphia Trumpet (Nov-Dec, 2009) article "Japan's Reorientation" promised a more independent foreign policy from Washington - and closer relations with Japan's Asian neighbors. It reported "the new government has also pledged to diversify its foreign currency reserve away from the dollar.  Thus, at some point, it will need to dramatically reduce how much money it lends to America.  It further stated a veiled threat to the U.S.  "If Japan were to follow through with its threat to only lend in yen, then the dollar would probably fall hard.”  That would mean more expensive consumer goods, higher unemployment and currency inflation in America.  If other nations like China were to follow suit, we would witness a currency crisis, Zimbabwe style.

IDENTIFYING THE THREAT: How do we identify the activity in an economic war?  How has Japan affected jobs for Americans?  What do we call this difference?  We call it espionage!!  An economic war is conducted not only to take over the economic advantage and trade of a company or a country, but also to keep us off balance so we cannot recover.

In 1989 Akio Morita gave a speech in New York talking about both Japan and the United States.  He explained about trade and manufacturing. In the speech he stated that shift from manufacturing to services is well advanced in the United States, a country which since 1950 has lost half of its manufacturing jobs and where now almost three quarters of all jobs are service oriented.

With the veiled threats included in the remarks from the Trumpet perhaps we should seriously consider the remarks of Yoshio Terasawa who was quoted in Manhattan Ink Magazine in May 1989 on Japan's Secret Weapon 'Shadow Warrior's".  Terasawa was the ranking Japanese member of the World Bank Group. 

He said, "I have heard the argument that the Japanese won't succeed here in America because of the peculiarity of our culture and its homogeneity.  But I don't agree with this argument at all.  We are not a religious people, so we have no transcendent precepts or principles that bar us from taking whatever action is necessary.  We can be terribly immoral if necessary.”

“Now, in order to make more money and be more competitive, Japanese businessmen will do anything they have to.  There are no limits.  They may talk about Americanizing their companies to please their American employees, but that is not what they will really do.  Big Japanese corporations are going to acquire big American corporations and let them run things so that the Japanese owners will not be visible.  In short, the Japanese-owned American company itself will become the ultimate shadow warrior.”

With this declaration, the magazine shortly went out of business.  It is up to us to run the American system of government and business.  Americans have the talent to correct the problems.  The choice is yours to make.

Mike Biras

mbiras64862@mypacks.net