Starting with the rapid reversal of the relative economic positions of Japan and the United States and reinforced by the challenge to the Japanese capitalist model posed by the Asian financial crisis, America`s trade agenda has been turned upside down. By early 1998, trade disputes over the imperative to revive Japan`s dorsal economy had been relegated to the background. While trade negotiations continued on key priority areas in the United States (telecommunications, pharmacy, insurance, and cars), the focus was on lifespan and the overall relationship and common security agenda. The contrast is evident in the interviews of President Clinton`s book in Japan in 1993 and 2000. When President Clinton visited Japan for his first G7 meeting in 1993, Japan`s U.S. trade barriers and imbalances were the first.
