Growing Disharmony in Canadian-Japanese Trade
| DOI | 10.1177/002070208103600409 |
| Date | 01 December 1981 |
| Published date | 01 December 1981 |
| Author | Michael W. Donnelly |
| Subject Matter | Money and Markets |
MICHAEL
W.
DONNELLY
Growing
disharmony
in
Canadian-Japanese
trade
No
observer
of
Canadian
foreign
policy
has
ever
proclaimed that
some
kind
of
'special
relationship'
links
Canada
and
Japan
or
that
the
two
countries
regard
each
other
as less
than
'foreign'
or
'ex-
ternal.'
The
Japanese
are
basically
an
homogeneous
and
inward-
oriented
people
who
are sometimes
rather
ill
at
ease
in
dealing
with
foreigners.
They
are
deeply
convinced
that
their
country
remains
vulnerable
and
are
consequently
unimpressed
by
the
realities
of
economic
miracles
and
concerned
that
their
future
prosperity
is
still
beset
by
external
forces
beyond
control.
When
they
think
of
Canada, the
most
common
image
is
that
of
an
es-
timable
people
living
in
a
gigantic
country,
clean
and
lavishly
endowed
with
natural
resources,
and
closely
integrated
on
the
North
American
continent
with
the
United
States.
Canadians
are
divided
and
self-concerned
at
home
but
still
at
ease
and
generally
perceived
as
well-meaning
and
reliable
in
the
international
world,
intimately
tied
to
a
number
of
other
coun-
tries
by
culture,
history,
and
tradition
in
a
way
that
the
Japanese
have
never been.
Despite
current
doubts
about
the
economic
in-
tentions
of
the
federal and
provincial governments,
they
are
more
certain
about
the
place
and
role
of
their
nation
in
world
politics
and
more
confident
about
their
long-term
economic
well-being
than
are
the
Japanese.
Many
Canadians
are aware
that
Japan
has
become
an
important
trading
partner,
but
even
the
most
in-
formed
are
a
bit
puzzled
about
what this
development
means,
and
uncertain
about
how
political
and
cultural
ties
might
be
strength-
ened,
if
indeed
they should
be.
Associate
Professor, Scarborough
College,
University
of
Toronto;
Visiting
Re-
search Fellow,
Institute
of
Developing
Economies,
Tokyo,
1981.
88o
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Diplomatic
relations,
established
over
a
half-century
ago,
are
secure
and
based
on
a
good
deal
of
cumulative
political
ex-
perience.
But
other
values,
similarities,
or
specific
links
which
help facilitate
communication
and
agreement
among
nations
are
not
present:
language,
culture,
race,
history,
national
political
myths,
geographical
propinquity,
or
important
political
or mili-
tary
treaties and
alliances.
Of
course, differences
between
the
two
countries
are
not
the
whole
story.
In
an
abstract
sense,
both
coun-
tries
share
a
number
of
political
values
and
agree
on
the
need
for
a
peaceful
and
pluralistic
world
order.
Both
also
place
a
high
priority
on
world
stability
including
the
importance
of
preserving
an
open
international
economy.
The
two
countries
are
demo-
cratic
and
share
a
common
dedication
to
the
individual
free from
arbitrary
dictates
of
government.
Yet,
when the
catalogue
of
similarities and
differences
is
com-
pleted,
and
allowances
are
made
for
the
possibility
that relations
can
and
do
differ
by
issue-area,
the
most
notable
characteristic
of
relations
between
these
dissimilar countries
is
the
lack
of
signifi-
cant
conflict.
Indeed,
in
contrast
to
other
bilateral
relationships
involving
Japan
and
its
major
trading
partners,
Canada-Japan
ties
have
been
remarkably
trouble-free and,
for the
most
part,
mutually
satisfactory,
Why has
there
been
so
little
overt
antagon-
ism
and
tension
and
under
what
conditions
could this
situation
change?
The
reasons,
in
my
view,
lie
with
questions
of
global
politics,
in
the
density
and
character
of
economic
ties,
and in
the
extent
to
which
political
manipulation
has
displaced
the
role
of
economic
rationality.
Ties
between Canada
and
Japan
have
been
characterized
by
what
has
often
been said, sometimes
incorrectly,
to
be
a
feature
of
Canadian-American
relations:
insulation
from
global
military
and
political
controversies.
1
During
most
of
the
postwar era
both
Can-
ada
and
Japan
have
been
essentially 'middle-level'
powers,
con-
i
See
the
recent
discussion
by
John
Kirton,
'The
politics
of
bilateral management:
the
case
of
the
automotive
trade,'
and
Don
Munton,
'Dependence
and
inter-
dependence
in
transboundary
environmental
relations,'
International
Journal
xxxvi
(winter
1980-1
) ,
39-69
and
139-84,
respectively.
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