Carmakers are likely to miss out on 420 billion yen in earnings in 2002 if China retains its retaliatory import tariffs on Japanese vehicles, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Inc. said Friday.

Alarmed by the estimate, JAMA has submitted a petition to the government calling for an early solution to the trade dispute with China, association officials said.

In April, Japan provisionally invoked emergency import restrictions on three farm products -- stone leeks, shiitake mushrooms and rushes used in tatami mats -- which mostly come from China.

This prompted Beijing to impose 100 percent punitive tariffs on imports of Japanese motor vehicles, air conditioners and mobile phones in June.

The punitive tariffs have increased prices of Japanese cars in China by as much as 60 percent, virtually halting local sales, the officials said.

Some 21,000 Japanese cars will be affected by the Chinese tariffs this year, they said, with losses reaching 51.2 billion yen.

The estimated figures are 174,000 cars and 420 billion yen in losses in 2002, 201,000 cars and 480 billion yen in losses in 2003, and 268,000 cars and 640 billion yen in losses in 2005, the officials said.

The estimates are based on the assumption that China will join the World Trade Organization and that auto imports will surge as a result.

"We are afraid auto exports from South Korea and other countries (to China) will surge with Japanese autos out," a JAMA official said. "If the situation is left unchanged, Japanese automakers will be dealt a fatal blow in the promising Chinese market."