Business: Lots of Smiles but Few Sales

Americans find barriers still high in the land of the rising yen

Because they flood the U.S. with everything from Sony TVs to nimble Kawasaki cycles and buy so little in return, the Japanese alone account for 40% of the nation's appalling trade deficit, which this year will rocket to a record $33 billion. In response to repeated American pleas for easier access to markets in the land of Hitachi and Datsun, the Japanese reply reproachfully: "But we are ready and eager to buy your goods. It is your fault for making no effort to sell to us." Last week a group...