The chip wars between the US and Japan are not going to die, and Japan faces new trade tension with the US after publication of the third quarter figures last week showing foreign chip makers losing rather than gaining market share in Japan: the Ministry of International Trade & Industry reports that imported chips took 17.7% of the market in the July to September 1992 quarter, down 0.2 percentage points from the second quarter; the US excludes chips made in Japan by foreign companies, and its figures show a market share of 15.9%, down from 16%; the 20% target looks as elusive as ever and the Japanese side, which when business was booming said it was hard for companies to use more foreign chips because of the boom, now says that the electronics depression is to blame for the decline; at his mid-December conference, President-elect Clinton signalled readiness to take a tough stand with Japan on its chronic trade surplus with the US.
