WI : Toshiba and Japan didn’t kowtow to USA in 1987?

[Meordal]

Thirty years ago, Toshiba exported precision instruments to Soviet Union. The United States imposed the following penalties on Toshiba Group:

1.) The Japanese Police Department was ordered to arrest Erhe Lin, President of Toshiba Machinery Foundry, and Hiroshima Tanamura, President of Machine Tool Business, and sentenced to 10 years’imprisonment.

2.) Closing Toshiba’s factory in the United States

3.) A 100% tariff on Toshiba products sold to the United States

4.) As an alternative punishment to the previous one, Toshiba’s exports to the United States were banned for five years.

5.) A huge fine of 1 trillion yen was imposed on Toshiba, equivalent to $16 billion today.

In order to calm the anger of the United States, Japan imposed severe penalties on Toshiba Group:

1.) Japan’s semiconductor industry would unconditionally share technology with American companies.

2.) Toshiba spent 100 million yen to publish a full-page apology advertisement in all major newspapers in the United States.

3.) Japan Semiconductor Association invested 9 million US dollars to launch various relations lobbying in the US Congress, and this lobbying has become the most costly lobbying war in history.

4.) The chairman and general manager of Toshiba Group resigned.

5.) By an administrative order issued by the Ministry of Communications, Toshiba was prohibited from exporting any products to 14 countries for a period of one year.

The United States is the master of Japan, Japan can only apologize, which has led to Toshiba gradually losing its past glory.

Toshiba was the hope of Japan’s science and technology industry, and also the hope and pillar of Japan’s manufacturing. After suffering a heavy blow from the United States, Toshiba went downhill thoroughly.

Allegedly the U.S. attacked Toshiba not because it sold equipment to the Soviet Union, but because it affected U.S. interests. The United States believed that the Japanese semiconductor industry represented by Toshiba Group seriously threatened the economic interests of the United States,while the Japanese high-end manufacturing plan threatened the United States and challenged the technological hegemony of the United States.

Source : https://www.checkpointasia.net/today-the-us-is-waging-a-war-on-huawei-in-1987-it-was-japans-toshiba/

More informations : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba-Kongsberg_scandal

I was looking for information on the current Huaiwei crisis when I discovered this precedent. So what if in 1987, Toshiba and Japan didn’t kowtow to USA?

 

[naraic]

Toshiba was a Japanese group and was punished because of the actions of a relatively small subsidiary.

The Norwegian company involved in the scandal was a state owned entity but only it was punished rather than every Norwegian state owned company which is what would have happened it Toshiba and the Norwegians took the same responsibility.

 

[Master Xion]

I was looking for information on the current Huaiwei crisis when I discovered this precedent. So what if in 1987, Toshiba and Japan didn’t kowtow to USA?

Then the U.S. crushes Toshiba like they're trying to do with that Chinese company and Japan is a part of it, the U.S will try to gut it's economy.

 

[Father Maryland]

"The United States is the master of Japan, Japan can only apologize, which has led to Toshiba gradually losing its past glory."

Seriously? Your source seems wonký as hell.

 

[Carl Schwamberger]

"The United States is the master of Japan, Japan can only apologize, which has led to Toshiba gradually losing its past glory."

Seriously? Your source seems wonký as hell.

"Wonky" seems a understatement. Back in 1987 Japans business community was beating up US industry right and left. The only leverage I remember the US having was its market. & even then it had become difficult due to risks to shut vendors out.

Of course I have to admit living in Jpan two years and failing to grasp the Japanese PoV.

 

[CalBear]

As an alternate PoV:

The U.S. flat loses its shit if the Japanese government doesn't act, as does the the JMSDF and likely the JASDF.

I'm not sure folks realize how serious this was/is. It was a disaster on a scale not exceeded in Western military manufacturing since the Soviets penetrated Manhattan. Even the various leaks from the Hansen and Walker spy rings don't exceed what Toshiba's sale provided. To this day Western navies are paying the on-going price for Toshiba's actions. Every new boat the USSR or Russia produced or produces is at least a degree of magnitude quieter (Nuclear powered boats more than that) than it SHOULD be. That means Kilo and Lada SSK and the Borei class SSBN as well as the Yasen class SSN.

The Toshiba CNC machine sale jumped the Soviet Navy subs by two generations. The Soviets immediately ceased production on the Project 945 Barracuda (NATO: Sierra) and Project 971 Pike (NATO: Akula) SSN, when the new boats in the class (the "II" & "III" sub-classes), along with the last five Project 945A Antey (NATO: Oscar II) hit the water they were vastly quieter (something that, BTW, was at least as damaging to the Japanese defenses as the U.S.).

Count on the U.S. invalidating Mitsubishi's license to build the F-15J/F-15DJ, delaying or never issuing the licensing for the J2, various GE jet engines, access to AEGIS, SM-x SAM, AN/APY-2 radars, you name it. If Congress gets PO'd enough Japan might never receive "major non-NATO ally" status.

Toshiba would be fortunate if it was EVER allowed to use the letters "U" or "S" in a sentence, much less sell anything in the U.S.

 

[Electric Monk]

Contemporary newspaper accounts:
LATimes by Robert A. Rosenblatt
NYTimes by David E. Sanger

Toshiba, which has $13 billion in annual sales worldwide, gives considerable autonomy to its subsidiaries and said that it had no knowledge that one of them, Toshiba Machine Co., was violating Japanese law by selling the propeller milling machines to the Soviet Union. The United States, Japan and other allies have a policy of restricting sales of militarily useful equipment to Communist countries.

As part of a $17-million transaction in 1983 and 1984, Toshiba Machine provided the milling equipment to grind and shape the submarine propellers, and a Norwegian firm, Kongsberg Vaapenfabrik, made the computer-driven controller to run the equipment.

The second shipment of propellers appears to raise new questions for investigators and lawmakers, from how many more shipments may be discovered to who else, in addition to nine people now indicted or arrested in Japan, may be involved.

The discovery also appears to reopen the question of how the Toshiba Corporation, Toshiba Machine's corporate parent, could have avoided noticing a prolonged set of illegal transactions between its subsidiary and the Russians.

Executives of the Toshiba Corporation have said they knew nothing of the illegal trade. As a result, they argue, it would be unfair for the United States to bar imports of Toshiba products, a move urged by many people in Congress.

 

[Nivek]

Nobody teach this on economics, or trade or business..thanks for this, just woah...

 

[Carl Schwamberger]

... Toshiba Machine Co., was violating Japanese law by selling the propeller milling machines to the Soviet Union.

Thats what was at the back of my mind in this. There was a degree of lack of attention on the part of the Japanese government. I recall from several intel briefs when on Okinawa circa 1983-1985 how the Japanese were weak on counter espionage.