History of Japan's Trade and Industry Policy (6): Basic Industry Policy

This volume deals with policy measures implemented by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's Basic Industries Bureau after the two oil crises in the 1970s and through 2000. Japan's basic materials manufacturers, which grew significantly during the postwar high economic growth period by supporting the development of other industries with a stable supply of high-quality materials, experienced severe difficulties in the subsequent years, hit by the oil crises and a sharp increase in the yen's value. Steelmakers, which grew into competitive players in the global market, were forced to the forefront of fierce trade battles and had to restrain their exports for the sake of maintaining Japan's good trade relationships with the United States and Europe, whereas non-ferrous metal manufacturers and petrochemical manufacturers had to streamline their production facilities drastically to shift toward high value-added products. Meanwhile, the development of new materials and a new generation of material industries, particularly in the bio sector, emerged as a new challenge.