Auto Parts

A Hampstead man was sentenced yesterday in Carroll County Circuit Court to 18 months in jail for his role in four unrelated thefts last year.James Howe, 38, of the 1400 block of N. Main St. was sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but 18 months suspended for stealing a $30 jigsaw from Kmart in Westminster in May 1997.Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. imposed a concurrent five-year sentence for Howe's theft of $610, which he collected in cash for auto parts he delivered to customers as a parts driver for Condon's Auto Parts in Westminster between April and June 1997.

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration, frustrated by nearly two years of fruitless negotiations with Japan over U.S. autos and auto parts, will warn Tokyo that it will move to impose several billion dollars in punitive tariffs unless major progress is made in opening Japanese markets in the next three weeks.The strategy, which has been under formulation for several weeks, was approved at the White House yesterday during a meeting of top Cabinet officers and other officials dealing with trade, senior officials said.

The Clinton administration appeared headed last night toward a nasty trade showdown with Japan, after three days of intense negotiations over American access to the Japanese automobile market ended in failure.The last day of talks in Vancouver, British Columbia, were finished off last night with a terse statement from U.S. Trade Rep. Mickey Kantor."The government of Japan has refused to address our most fundamental concerns in all areas," Mr. Kantor said. "Discrimination against foreign manufacturers of autos and auto parts continues."

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Japan struck a last-minute trade deal on autos and auto parts yesterday, narrowly averting President Clinton's threatened 100 percent tariff on Japanese luxury cars -- and the messy trade war that might have followed."

Used auto partsWhen I happened to attend a recent meeting of the Maryland Auto and Truck Recycler's Association, I was greatly surprised to learn that only an estimated 6 percent of vehicle owners turn to recycled parts when it's time for a repair.It really made me wonder: If used parts are an average of 50 percent less than the cost of a new part -- who wouldn't want to save half of their money?Recycled parts come mostly from wrecked car salvage -- that means that the parts can come from late model cars that have been in accidents.

TOKYO -- Japanese trade negotiators said today that they and their American counterparts had reached a hard-fought agreement on automobile trade, ending three days of confrontation over Japan's $41 billion trade surplus with the United States.Yuji Tanahashi, a vice minister of international trade and industry, told Japanese reporters of the agreement after successfully seeking the approval of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa at the prime minister's residence.The U.S. delegation negotiating as part of President Bush's official party here declined to confirm or deny the report, but informed U.S. diplomats acknowledged that the negotiations had ended with what one of them called "some degree of success."

LURKING beneath President Bush's haggling with Japan about auto sales is a nagging basic question that he never squarely addressed: Does it matter whether America retains an auto industry? And if so, why?If Bush does think we should revive Detroit, he needs to think harder. Specifically, what can government competently do to help the auto industry without violating America's general commitment to open global trade.These are the nettles that George Bush has refused to grasp. Instead, he has settled for some ad hoc arm-twisting, while insisting that he's really a free trader.

WHEN PRESIDENT Bush arrived in Japan this week with an entourage of frustrated American businessmen, he demanded that Japan buy more American autos -- and pressured the Japanese government to further restrict Japanese auto sales in the U.S.For the Americans, the $30 billion U.S.-Japan auto trade deficit is a result of Japanese unfairness rather than superior competitiveness. In June, Robert Mosbacher, the secretary of commerce, asserted that "in virtually all cases [U.S. auto parts] have been shown to be just as good as" Japanese auto parts.

TOKYO -- In tones reflecting the increasingly combative exchanges between Japan and the United States, the head of a Japanese auto group said yesterday it was "incomprehensible" that Detroit had not accepted Tokyo's offer to buy $19 billion more in U.S.-made auto parts.Yutaka Kume, president of Nissan Motor Co. and chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said top Japanese executives "have no intention" of discussing the issue again with the Big Three U.S. automakers.His comments virtually erased any hopes of continuing discussions among the world's biggest automakers about how to close the trade gap between the countries.

TOKYO -- American and Japanese negotiators headed into their last hours of talks this morning amid growing signs that they were still deadlocked on the central issue -- Japan's huge surplus in two-way automotive trade.Presidential press secretary Marlin Fitzwater described the talks as "hard-fought battles.""I would say there are very tough negotiations going on," he added. "Both sides have very strong positions and a lot at stake, and we're working them very hard."Participants described the talks, especially on the deeply contentious auto issues, as frequently resembling debates and arguments more than negotiations.

"Cash-for-clunkers" may be a hit with consumers and a boon to the struggling auto industry, but it's no bonanza for junkyard operators, who say they're being left quite literally with the scraps of the federal economic stimulus program. While some salvage businesses are eagerly buying traded-in gas-guzzlers from auto dealers for parts and scrap metal, others are steering clear of the government program, with some complaining that it comes with more red tape than it's worth. "We just ain't getting involved in it," says Roland Reiser, manager of Glory Days Auto Salvage in Hanover.

WASHINGTON - Auto suppliers, struggling along with the entire industry in the face of the deep recession, will receive up to $5 billion in federal aid, the Treasury Department said yesterday. The financing is intended to give suppliers confidence that they will be paid for shipments they make to automakers, including General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, both of which are teetering near bankruptcy as federal officials review their restructuring plans. GM and Chrysler have delayed their payment schedule to vendors as their woes deepened.

Does the recession hurt or help my shares of AutoZone Inc.? B.R., via the Internet On the one hand, the retailer of auto parts and accessories benefits from cash-strapped motorists fixing up their cars rather than purchasing new vehicles. The age and mileage of cars on the road continues to rise. On the other hand, if the economy gets bad enough, they also will defer spending on their existing vehicles. That's why the firm has begun a consumer education campaign to encourage proper vehicle maintenance.

DETROIT -- Robert S. Miller started off as the Oracle of Delphi, handing down dire pronouncements about the auto industry from his lofty post as chief executive of the parts supplier. But with the Delphi Corp. now in bankruptcy proceedings, Miller, known as Steve, has come charging down from the mountaintop to confront Delphi's unions in a way that Detroit has rarely seen. Miller seems to be relishing his combatant's role, at least for the attention it is bringing to the crisis facing his industry.

CHICAGO - A man who was fired from his job at an auto parts company six months ago returned yesterday with a handgun and shot six former co-workers, killing them all, before being mortally wounded in a gunbattle with police, authorities said. Salvador Tapia, 36, who had been arrested a dozen times on weapons, assault and other charges, died after being taken to a hospital, police said. Four of his victims were pronounced dead at the scene, shot down among a maze of engine parts, crates and 55-gallon drums at Windy City Core Supply Inc. The two others died at local hospitals, officials said.

DETROIT - Delphi Automotive Systems Corp., the world's largest auto parts manufacturer, said yesterday that it will eliminate 11,500 jobs this year, mainly through attrition, and will close nine factories and distribution centers. Delphi, which was spun off from General Motors Corp. two years ago and has 211,000 employees worldwide, also warned that it would break even or record a small loss in the first quarter and would take an after-tax charge of up to $400 million, instead of earning a substantial profit as financial analysts had expected.

A Hampstead man was sentenced yesterday in Carroll County Circuit Court to 18 months in jail for his role in four unrelated thefts last year.James Howe, 38, of the 1400 block of N. Main St. was sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but 18 months suspended for stealing a $30 jigsaw from Kmart in Westminster in May 1997.Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. imposed a concurrent five-year sentence for Howe's theft of $610, which he collected in cash for auto parts he delivered to customers as a parts driver for Condon's Auto Parts in Westminster between April and June 1997.

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Japan struck a last-minute trade deal on autos and auto parts yesterday, narrowly averting President Clinton's threatened 100 percent tariff on Japanese luxury cars -- and the messy trade war that might have followed."

The Clinton administration appeared headed last night toward a nasty trade showdown with Japan, after three days of intense negotiations over American access to the Japanese automobile market ended in failure.The last day of talks in Vancouver, British Columbia, were finished off last night with a terse statement from U.S. Trade Rep. Mickey Kantor."The government of Japan has refused to address our most fundamental concerns in all areas," Mr. Kantor said. "Discrimination against foreign manufacturers of autos and auto parts continues."

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration, frustrated by nearly two years of fruitless negotiations with Japan over U.S. autos and auto parts, will warn Tokyo that it will move to impose several billion dollars in punitive tariffs unless major progress is made in opening Japanese markets in the next three weeks.The strategy, which has been under formulation for several weeks, was approved at the White House yesterday during a meeting of top Cabinet officers and other officials dealing with trade, senior officials said.