SAN FRANCISCO — SAN FRANCISCO -- American computer executives yesterday hailed a trade agreement reached during President Bush's trip to Japan, saying it could result in as much as $2 billion a year in extra sales of U.S. computers in Japan.
The agreement between Japan and the United States, overshadowed by a confrontation over automobiles, aims to increase sales of non-Japanese computers to Japanese government agencies and state-owned companies. The agreement for the computer industry stands in contrast to the outcome of the negotiations over automobiles, which are widely viewed as a disappointment.
U.S. computer-makers say the $6 billion Japanese public-sector market for computers has essentially been closed to them; they have had much better success in the $34 billion private-sector market.
Computer executives said that if they had the same share of the public-sector market as of the private-sector market, sales in Japan would increase by $2 billion a year.