Big 3’s Trade Gripe Gets More Attention : Autos: Both Japan and the White House have sent representatives to Detroit for talks on the imbalance.

DETROIT —  There is a not too subtle trade war smoldering here. So far it is causing lots of smoke but no fire.

In the last two months, the Big Three auto makers have kept up a constant barrage of complaints about how the Japanese have stacked the trade deck. The Japanese say it’s the same tired verse, just a little bit louder and a little bit worse.

But the debate clearly has grabbed the attention of the Clinton Administration and the Japanese government, both of which sent representatives here in the last few days for talks with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

The latest emissary, Takakazu Kuriyama, Japan’s ambassador to the United States, arrived Monday to open a dialogue with the Big Three. He staunchly defended his government’s trade policies--while leaving room for compromise.

“It requires two to dance,” Kuriyama said at a news conference before delivering a speech to the Economic Club of Detroit and later meeting with the auto makers.

Kuriyama’s audience with Detroit’s car makers followed closely that of U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, who met separately Friday with auto officials and the leadership of the United Auto Workers union.

Although he was tight-lipped about the discussions, Kantor reiterated that a healthy auto industry is a top priority of the Administration, raising hopes of favorable trade rulings for Detroit.

There is little secret about the Big Three’s trade agenda.

They want a 25% tariff on Japanese minivans, charges filed saying that Japanese car makers have dumped vehicles here for less than they cost to make, and a significant reduction in Japan’s huge trade surplus with the United States.

These issues have long been of concern to the auto makers. But until President Clinton took office in January, the companies had gotten little sympathy from Washington.

The Big Three have shown an unusually united front on trade issues, with Ford Chairman Harold A. (Red) Poling assuming the mantle of chief Japan basher.

“The current situation puts the United States at a chronic disadvantage . . . because our markets generally are the most open in the world and Japan’s among the most closed,” Poling said in a recent speech.

Kuriyama strongly disagrees. Although he conceded Monday that the Japanese auto market had been closed in the past, he said that is no longer the case.

“These barriers are almost completely gone now,” he said. “Japan is now as open as many of your trading partners in Europe.”

Kuriyama pointed out that U.S. auto makers were slow to build right-side-drive cars for the Japanese market; only now are the Americans beginning to penetrate that market.

Chrysler has begun to sell Jeep Cherokees, its popular sports utility vehicle, in Japan. GM said Monday that it is now the top car importer to Japan, outstripping BMW and Volkswagen.

Still, the U.S. presence there is minuscule compared to Japan’s 27% market share in the U.S. car market.

Detroit car makers are trying to persuade the Administration to mandate a drastic lowering of Japan’s trade surplus with the United States over the next five years--about a 20% reduction per year.

The imbalance was $49.4 billion in 1992, with about two-thirds attributable to the auto industry.

But Japan is likely to resist such an effort.

The trade surplus--which shrank in the late 1980s--has increased recently as Japan’s recession curtailed domestic spending, lowering Japanese imports and increasing exports.

The auto makers believe that the imbalance is partially attributable to the dumping of Japanese vehicles in the United States. The Big Three dropped plans last month to file a dumping suit against the Japanese, but are providing information on the alleged practice to the U.S. government.

The Commerce Department is considering whether to file suit on its own, which could result in steep duties on Japanese imports.

Consumer groups have opposed the dumping action because it would result in higher prices. For the same reason, they have come out against increasing to 25% the current 2.5% tariff on minivans and four-door sport utility vehicles. The higher tariff now applies only to imported trucks.

Chrysler released a letter last week from its chairman, Robert J. Eaton, to Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen promising not to increase minivan prices more than the rate of inflation.

Kuriyama said Japan opposes any unilateral action--such as the imposition of tariffs--by the United States that could undermine trade relations.

He said such issues should be taken to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade committee, an international body that settles trade disputes.