opinion:
Even America’s best allies don’t always play fair when it comes to international trade. take Japan. Japan is one of our most important economic partners, but year after year the trade imbalance between the two countries amounts to billions.
Frankly, the Japanese have not done enough to open up their markets to American-made goods. The situation is better than before, thanks to the tough trade debates of the previous administration, but there is still a long way to go.
Americans generally believe in free trade. That’s one reason why Sony’s PlayStation platform has captured more than half (59%) of what the US Federal Trade Commission calls the “high-end game console” market. The Japanese, on the other hand, are not. Their industrial policy favors products made by Japanese companies, and many people on this side of the Pacific call this sentiment “cultural protectionism.”
It’s not fair, and may not even be legal according to existing trade agreements, but the Xbox platform is the world’s third-largest gaming console, with Microsoft accounting for less than 4% of the Japanese market. is for that reason.
The U.S. government must steer toward further opening markets so that U.S. companies can not only compete in the global marketplace, but, if possible, lead the market. His one place where this could happen is in the field of video games, but that won’t be the case as long as the Biden administration lasts. The Japanese continue to create a common cause to block Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Activision-Blizzard. A very successful Call of Duty franchise.
Sony is also putting pressure on regulators in other countries. For example, it recently called on UK antitrust regulators to block approve the $69 billion deal or force the sale of “Call of Duty” to prevent potential harm to consumers. was recently reported. Cloud gaming and console market.
U.S. regulators and trade officials might think they’re in favor of a deal on its merits. That would be good for the industry, increasing competition and possibly cutting costs for consumers. All of these are things that antitrust regulators should encourage, not discourage.
Microsoft is an American company, and what is good for American business is believed to be good for America. Other government officials associated with her seem to have their priorities out of whack.
Sony reportedly maintains its dominance in the Japanese market by paying publishers not to distribute their games on both the Xbox platform and the Xbox subscription service. Unfair and possibly illegal tactics like these have created a near-monopoly, but the Japanese Fair Trade Commission has not approved any potential antitrust violations by US companies, such as the proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. I spend my time actively investigating slow walks that require
The gap in access to the gaming market is clear. Sony has been involved in anti-competitive behavior that effectively shuts Microsoft out, and it’s up to US trade officials to do something about it. Unsurprisingly, the FTC is on track as Chairman Khan appears to believe bigger is worse, at least for American companies.
You don’t have to do it this way. Congress, which should recognize how important the U.S. tech industry is to job creation and economic growth, could start asking penetrating questions, such as why Khan allowed the antitrust laws to be overturned during his tenure. there is.
America voted for President Biden, believing that he was on the side of workers. His trade and regulatory policies have many of us now questioning that assumption. Unfair practices used by the Japanese to protect their gaming market share from US competition should not be tolerated. We don’t need to start a trade war to solve these problems. There are plenty of other ways to handle it, but only if the positions of high-ranking American officials on these issues start bringing it up.
