The Automotive Trade Policy Council (ATPC), speaking on behalf of General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, pointed to Japan's announcement earlier this week of record- breaking trade and current account surpluses as compelling evidence that the U.S. needs to pressure Japan to urgently realign its heavily undervalued yen.

Japan's overall trade surplus increased by 62.1% in March, its largest increase in three years, and its current account surplus rose 37% in March to reach an annual record of $176.4 billion. Japan's weak yen policy has targeted the U.S. auto sector in particular, with over 50 percent of the vehicles produced in Japan now slated for export to other countries, the highest rate in nearly twenty years. Japanese auto exports to the U.S. rose 9% percent in the first quarter of 2007 over last year.

"Japan's latest trade figures bring home the real-world consequences impact of the misaligned yen," said Stephen J. Collins, President of the ATPC. "This is not an innocent or victimless policy. Japan's exports and global trade surplus are hitting record levels because of the weak yen. Its auto exports to the U.S. continue to surge, while sales back in Japan decline. We know that almost half of all Toyotas sold in the U.S., for example, are now imported from Japan, not built in American plants."

Collins continued, "Congress has given notice that it will not stand aside if the U.S. government continues to turn a blind eye to Japan's beggar-thy- neighbor currency and trade practices. These latest Japanese trade figures provide further evidence that the time for action is now."