Japanese Investment and British Trade Unionism

Hitoshi Suzuki is Deputy Director of the Economic Partnership Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. He has written articles on Japan-EU trade including, “The new politics of trade: EU-Japan” and a Japanese monograph, Thatcher and the Nissan Sunderland Plant. He was Associate Professor at the University of Niigata Prefecture and has been Visiting Fellow at the Monash European and EU Centre and the Department of International History, LSE.

• Introduction.- Japan’ s post-war reconstruction, the car industry, and Nissan/Datsun.- British car industry and Anglo-Japanese relations in the post-war period.- The negotiations over financial assistance and local contents.- The deal: financial aid and local contents.- Plant location Sunderland.- Epilogue.- Conclusion.