Abstract
Established in the early 1980s and launched in 1989, the Lexus soon became associated with quality, luxury and superior customer satisfaction. The brand reputation grew quickly until, and Lexus became one of the best-selling lines of luxury motor vehicles in USA. But they're facing a huge problem in 1995: The USA (via the USTR) is setting up a 100% tax fee on Japanese cars importations of 13 selected models (which constitutes an entry barrier).
I believe the main reason is that they were dissatisfied with the level of US auto parts exports to Japan. So it's a way to show the deception after Japanese promises haven't been realized. It can also be a way to avoid over-buying of foreign luxury cars and thus protect and preserve the American car industry (Ford…). As a matter of fact, luxury cars represent a big potential and they want to keep control on that. And a tariff of 100% of the vehicles prices is a huge amount of money which is certainly very dissuasive.
