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Palgrave Macmillan

Japanese Investment and British Trade Unionism

Thatcher and Nissan Revisited in the Wake of Brexit

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

Authors:
  1. Hitoshi Suzuki

    1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Tokyo, Japan

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  • Illustrates sufficiently the role EC/EU played in the Nissan negotiation
  • Widens the scope of European integration history by describing its relations with Japan
  • Incorporates also the Japanese side of the story i.e. Nissan’s management, trade unions and the Japanese government’s trade policy

Part of the book series: New Directions in East Asian History (NDEAH)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 1-8

  3. Japan’s Post-War Reconstruction, the Car Industry, and Nissan/Datsun

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 9-24

  4. The British Car Industry and Anglo-Japanese Relations in the Post-War Period

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 25-38

  5. Negotiations over Financial Assistance and Local Content

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 39-97

  6. The Deal: Financial Aid and Local Content

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 99-124

  7. Plant Location Sunderland

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 125-153

  8. Epilogue

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 155-167

  9. Conclusion

    • Hitoshi Suzuki
    Pages 169-173

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 175-195
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Keywords

About this book

This book revisits the long contested negotiation between the Thatcher administration and Nissan for the latter's first green-field plant in Europe. From the very beginning, the plant took Britain’s EC/EU membership and tariff-free access to the single market as a token. A considerable amount of aid including component supplies was provided to attract Japanese investment and to prevent its transfer to the continent. The successful launch of Sunderland highlighted improved Anglo-Japanese relations and put an end to the Japan-EC/EU trade conflict. But the price was paid by Nissan’s slump and fall, and by trade unions in both countries failing to keep counterchecks on management. Brexit and the fall of Carlos Ghosn were a double blow to Anglo-Japanese relations which are in a state of drift and need redefinition.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Tokyo, Japan

    Hitoshi Suzuki

About the author

Hitoshi Suzuki is Deputy Director of the Economic Partnership Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. He has written articles on Japan-EU trade including, “The new politics of trade: EU-Japan” and a Japanese monograph, Thatcher and the Nissan Sunderland Plant. He was Associate Professor at the University of Niigata Prefecture and has been Visiting Fellow at the Monash European and EU Centre and the Department of International History, LSE.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Japanese Investment and British Trade Unionism

  • Book Subtitle: Thatcher and Nissan Revisited in the Wake of Brexit

  • Authors: Hitoshi Suzuki

  • Series Title: New Directions in East Asian History

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9058-0

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-15-9057-3Published: 24 November 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-15-9060-3Published: 24 November 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-15-9058-0Published: 23 November 2020

  • Series ISSN: 2522-0195

  • Series E-ISSN: 2522-0209

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXI, 195

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Modern History, International Relations, European Integration, Trade

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