11 US Congressmen ask Biden Admin to pressure Japan over allowing Sony to buy console exclusivity deals

[Qwark]

Machiavellian said:

Qwark said:

If the Biden administration will formally ask the Japanese government to meddle, it wouldn't be to just look into it, it would basically mean to take action against it. Either by forbid deals between PS and companies like Square or to protect the market less from US companies which can buy Japanese gaming companies with less scrutiny. US wants more monopolies after all, it's the Anglo-Saxon way after all to take on massive debts to eventually dominate and control. Sometimes it works (Big tech) sometimes it doesn't (US car industry).

USA imports almost twice as much from Japan as vice versa. Though the US is losing trading ground to China, when it comes to export. Putting on the same thing as US did with EU as a response might push Japan to more trade and a closer relationship with China as Trump definitely pushed EU closer to China, though China is pushing EU away in favour of Russia.

For the US I would say Japan is for many things more important than EU (especially for pressuring China). After all via Japan the US could very quickly react to a Taiwan invasion. So they can't take the same route of higher tarifs or boycotting products as they do/did with Chinese products and products from EU. So the question is how much control can the US have on Japan, keeping its many interests in Japan intact, which is unlike the situation with Canadian lumber and the EU tariff war.

The US government cannot force anything on any developed country and especially not Japan.  Instead they can make them look into any company they feel is abusing their market just like Japan could do the same in the US.  Japan government always take request from the US seriously because that is the nature of their government.  They are very dependent on a lot of raw materials and things they cannot produce there.

As to your statement that the US want more monopolies, I am not sure where you get this opinion from

Yes, that is what I am stating about trade, if you are sending more to another country you do not rock the boat and get slapped with Tariffs or anything that can disrupt your supply chain.

MS doesn't rely on Japan no where close to what you believe.  Everything that Japan can produce can be produce in the US.  Probably at a bigger cost but still can be done.  Either way, that is not my point.  My point is that Japan doesn't ignore any request from the US which is why they would look at it seriously.  That doesn't mean anything will come of it, just means if there is any smoke, Sony probably would need to lay low for a while.

Yet under the Trump administration slapping tariffs on EU was the chosen strategy. Which definitely pushed EU much closer towards more open trade and cooperation with China, till the Ukrainian war. The US can produce everything Japan or basically any country provides, but as it is at the moment US imports twice as much from Japan than it exports.

Also US basically forced NL to no longer export ASML chip making machines to China, since NL isn't really into the trade war. US can definitely force countries to do things they wouldn't do themselves for their cause. The US has a lot of influence over their allies.

Forcing Sony to lay low for a while could give MS the window of opportunity to go on a buying spree in Japan. Something which MS probably wants as Phil has repeatedly said they want more Japanese devs (probably Capcom). Sony doesn't have the funds to buy them to begin with, so they are basically forced to make exclusivity deals to deliver exclusive content consistently.

If those deals are gone and Sony is under scrutiny by the Japanese government they can make less of an objection to MS buying Japanese Devs and make all of their content exclusive.