U.S. Trade Expansion with Japan and China: Key Agreements and Trends

United States–Japan Trade

2019 Goods Trade: U.S. exports $142B | Imports $117B

Major Agreements

• Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1858) – Opened Japan
• Treaty of Commerce and Navigation (1911)
• GATT (1947) – Multilateral tariff reduction
• U.S.–Japan Framework (1995)
• Economic Partnership Agreement (2003)
• Trade Agreement (2007) – Sectoral liberalization

These reduced tariffs, aligned standards, and created dispute-resolution mechanisms.

United States–China Trade

2019 Goods Trade: U.S. exports $120B | Imports $452B (large deficit)

Major Agreements

• U.S.–China Trade Agreement (1980) – Normalized relations
• Textiles & Apparel Agreement (1984)
• WTO Accession Agreement (2001) – China joins WTO
• IPR Agreement (1994)
• Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations (2013, ongoing)

Agreements lowered barriers but structural issues (IP, subsidies, market access) persist.

Common Pattern

Both relationships evolved from political opening → institutional frameworks → deep economic integration—with periodic friction managed through dialogue and targeted agreements.