Word: importance
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Lehder and Reed were convicted here last year of conspiring to import cocaine. Lehder--an unindicted co-conspirator in the new indictment--is currently serving a life sentence and Reed is serving a 15-year term. His former wife, Yemel Nacel, is also among those indicted...
What spurred the investments was Tokyo's agreement last June to lift trade restrictions that limited imports of U.S. beef to 14% of Japan's market, which last year totaled 676,000 tons. Since Japanese meat companies expect to import much more U.S.-grown beef, they realize that if they own some of the American cattle operations, they will have a larger stake in the profits...
Japanese investors are buying cattle operations in Australia as well. While Japanese consumers generally consider American grain-fed beef to be the tastiest import, production is less costly Down Under because Australian cattle are fed more grass. Japanese trading houses have poured $132 million into Australian beef operations, more than twice their U.S. investment so far. That trend has prompted mixed feelings. Last month Australian beef producers called for government restrictions on further Japanese investment, but labor unions, whose members have benefited from increased employment, rose to defend...
Last month the government signed a letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in return for $4.32 billion in new credits through 1991. Among other things, the agreement promised an end to Venezuelan subsidies on an array of products, including imported raw materials and gasoline (at 13 cents per gal., perhaps the cheapest in the world). Exempted from the price hikes were 18 staples, including bread, rice and chicken. Perez also promised to raise fees for government-provided goods and services and to allow the bolivar to float downward on international currency markets, a move that would boost...
Japan's looming economic supremacy cannot be explained merely with complaints about unfair practices like dumping and import barriers. Its key advantages are national self-discipline, including a capacity for self- sacrifice. Economists have long noted that the Japanese people save at triple the rate that Americans do. They produce more than they consume, while Americans do the opposite. The effective corporate tax rate has been 50% higher in Japan than in the U.S., and in the upper brackets, personal income tax rates are also significantly higher...