Report: Japan Slow to Share Top Technology

WASHINGTON —  Japanese companies have repeatedly withheld or delayed selling their best technology to American companies, leaving the U.S. firms at a disadvantage in world markets, the U.S. General Accounting Office said in a report Tuesday.

The watchdog agency said U.S. firms were concerned that “even a brief delay in obtaining a part or piece of equipment can cause a company to fall a generation behind in its technological capabilities, resulting in lost market share.”

Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.), who asked for the study, said the GAO also found that “the United States has now become totally dependent on Japanese suppliers for a variety of supercomputer chips (semiconductors) and chip manufacturing equipment, and for ceramic chip coverings.”

Bentsen said the GAO found that 52 U.S. companies surveyed relied on Japanese technology, and of those, 22 reported ordering equipment that was already in use by Japanese firms and having their orders rejected or delayed for as long as two years.

“Sadly, vulnerable U.S. semiconductor and computer makers are in the ludicrous position of relying on Japanese suppliers for the critical technology they need to compete with other Japanese firms,” he said in a statement.

“This is a recipe for a disaster which is rapidly leaving most of the U.S. electronics industry in Japan’s dust.”

Japanese companies had denied the charge of withholding technology when Bentsen raised the issue last May.

The GAO said that when they were questioned for the report, Japanese firms again denied the allegation and said they did not favor other Japanese companies over Americans.

A few said that short supply or tailoring products for buyers could delay deliveries.