The U.S. government should continue playing an active role in Japan-U.S. trade issues and help U.S. companies gain greater access to the Japanese market, the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a report released Mar. 3.

The 1997 U.S.-Japan Trade White Paper says that American companies, despite some improvement in access in many sectors, continue to face "vexatious" problems that hinder imports of U.S. products in Japan. "There remains a need for the U.S. government to continue to monitor the trade issues and problems that hamper U.S.-Japan trade, and to assist American companies in gaining access to appropriate bodies in the Japanese government," the paper says.

The biennial report includes a 170-page book covering 38 business sectors and a 17-page supplement devoted to the issue of automobile and automotive components. ACCJ Gov. John Stich told a news conference that the problems cited in the white paper are the "real, everyday challenges facing American businessmen who are on the ground in Japan, living and breathing in the Japanese marketplace." He said the ACCJ, in its annual "door knock" in Washington this week, will urge the government to keep pressure on Japan and maintain focus on numerous remaining "persistent and detrimental" barriers.