U.S Dumps Film Dispute In Wto’s Lap

The Clinton administration, after three years of picking face-to-face fights with Japan over trade, decided to dump a contentious Kodak vs. Fuji dispute in the lap of the fledgling World Trade Organization.

But the high-stakes gamble could backfire if the international tribunal U.S. opponents love to hate sides with the Japanese.

Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor and other top administration officials said an 11-month U.S. investigation had determined the accuracy of allegations made by Eastman Kodak Co.

Kodak charged that Japanese rival Fuji Photo Film Co. and the government of Japan had conspired to erect an intricate web of anti-competitive barriers that are keeping Kodak products from being widely distributed in Japan.

Administration officials described their WTO case as a landmark case which for the first time would confront the Japanese system of “kereitsu,” the interlocking relationships among businesses and the government that foreign companies have complained effectively keeps them out of the huge Japanese market.

“This trade action is not simply about Kodak and its barriers in Japan,” Kantor said. “It is about fairness and providing the same fair market opportunities for American workers and American companies in Japan as Japan enjoys in the United States.”