An International Comparative Study Of Per Capita Consumption Of Import: Implications For U.S-Japan Trade

Abstract

This paper discusses the per-capita consumption of imports aspect of international trade. A research hypothesis is tested to investigate if there is a significant difference among G-7 countries in per-capita consumption of imports and the implication of the testing results for the U.S. - Japan bilateral trade deficit. The results of the ANOVA and the Kruskal-Wallis test yield insignificant variation in per-capita consumption of imported goods/services among the G-7 countries. The study recapitulates the reason(s) for the U.S. trade deficit with Japan and essentially states that factors other than trade barriers and restrictions cause the U.S. trade deficit with Japan. While this result may initially seem counterintuitive and inconsistent with popular wisdom, it may actually help uncover the true causes for the sustained trade deficit with Japan.