Word: imported
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...many as 30,000 Japanese draw their living from ivory -- as traders, carvers and merchants. But the import trade is controlled by a few. Two men, Takaichi in Osaka and Kitagawa in Tokyo, have accounted for as much as half the ivory entering Japan in recent years. Kitagawa, 47, is a stern man who presides over an industry in turmoil. He was twelve when he was introduced to what has been his family's business for nearly a century. His showroom, scanned by video cameras and kept moist by humidifiers, features a towering ivory pagoda and cases filled with ornate...
...Japanese have long been denounced as environmental villains, who import too many products made from endangered species and carry on destructive logging and fishing operations throughout the Pacific region. In two specific areas this month, Tokyo responded to the pressure from other nations...
Just the week before, Japan declared a total ban on ivory imports. The country's ivory carvers have traditionally been the most avid consumers of tusks taken from African elephants. But in recent years, concerned that the rapid depletion of elephant herds could mean the end of their ancient trade, the carvers have agreed to ever tightening import restrictions. Now Tokyo has decided to halt all shipments indefinitely and let the carvers work from ivory stockpiles...
American cigarette makers want Carla Hills, the U.S. Trade Representative, to break down Thailand's import barriers so that they can charge into that country's market. Specifically, the industry filed a petition under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 accusing Thailand of unfair trade practices. Hills is investigating the claim. But the American tobacco lobby is bitterly opposed by U.S. public-health advocates and the Thai government, which has the somewhat contradictory motives of protecting its citizens' health and defending the interests of its entrenched cigarette monopoly...
...move into Thailand would be the latest victory in an aggressive campaign by U.S. tobacco companies to conquer Asian markets. Since 1986, U.S. trade negotiators have helped cigarette makers break down import barriers in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. As a result, America's worldwide cigarette exports reached $2.6 billion last year, double the sales of 1986. The U.S. industry has come to depend on exports for growth, since a declining number of Americans are smoking. Consumption of cigarettes in the U.S. has fallen about 2% a year, to a volume of 562 billion...