Japanese Lobbying Heavily Against U.S. Trade Bill--Wright

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) charged today that Japan and Japanese businessmen have mounted an unprecedented $100-million lobbying attack on U.S. international trade legislation facing a veto by President Reagan.

In an interview, Wright, urging Reagan to sign the bill into law, said, “I hope he will reconsider.”

“The Japanese have hired 200 different lobbying firms in the United States,” Wright said. “The government and individual Japanese business firms have mounted a massive campaign costing well more than $100 million to try to defeat this bill.”

He added, “I think it may be the first time in history that a foreign country involved itself so deeply and intimately in the American legislative process.”