The battlefield is non-terrestrial television – satellite, cable and, eventually, even microwave – and the weapons are secure sources of programming, giant budgets and even that much-derided quality, vision.The three candidates for the mantle of TV titan make a decidedly odd trio.Mr Murdoch, the undisputed king of the UK pay-TV industry, owns five national newspaper titles in Britain and another handful in the US and did what most competitors thought could not be done: create a fourth US national TV network, Fox. It also puts him, once again, well ahead of most of his competitors in building a truly global television empire.
The global communications revolution has spawned only a few global players so far – all big, brash and ready to spend to stay ahead of the competitive pack. The news that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is unlikely, after all, to be forced to lower its stake in the lucrative Fox TV network in the US is further proof that he lives a charmed life with regulators. These included 100 percent punitive tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Japanese imports.

Automotive industry imports, including luxury cars and auto parts, were expected to be the main focus of US action.In the year to March, Japan’s overall trade surplus with the US was $56.66bn, of which the automotive industry accounted for $36.7bn AP, Reuters. Its dispute procedure, involving a panel of “wise men” to investigate and recommend solutions, will be triggered if the two sides fail to reach agreement within the next 60 days.Meanwhile in Washington, US Trade Representative Mickey Kantor was scheduled to meet President Clinton last night with plans for a package of sanctions. The threat of a trade war between the US and Japan looms larger today following the weekend breakdown of bilateral talks on automotive exports. Japan’s trade and industry minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said that Japan would appeal to the World Trade Organisation to counter any U.S trade sanctions.

Despite the breakdown, he said Japan would continue its own efforts to expand opportunities for foreign car and components makers to sell their products in Japan, including government funding for foreign car showrooms in Japan’s major cities.
The WTO has recently replaced GATT as the regulatory body for international trade. This constitutes something of a reversal as traditionally basic pay awards have tended to keep ahead of inflation.” The analysis covered a total of 1,100 pay settlements and showed deals pegged at 3% in the three months to March.. The report said it was too early to maintain that the link between wages and inflation had been broken, but added: “The vast majority of employers appear to be in no mood to concede RPI-plus pay increases. Increasing inflation has not fed through to wage settlements, although two-thirds of employers are giving their workers higher rises than a year ago, said pay analysts Industrial Relations Services. Pay rises have stayed at 3% for five months in a row, according to a report published today.

“The failure of these talks suggests that the chronic US trade deficit is likely to continue.”. But the competition now extends to all but the largest cars, vans and recreational vehicles.US officials say that the Japanese impose many kinds of technical and regulatory barriers on imports, for example by requiring foreign vehicles to undergo special inspections.They also accuse Japanese manufacturers of cold-shouldering foreign component suppliers and have been pressing the Japanese to make clear commitments to US sourcing.In the year to March, Japan’s overall trade surplus with the US was $56.66bn, of which the automotive industry alone accounted for $36.7bn.The two sides were locked in negotiations for several weeks, but after talks in Vancouver broke down at the weekend, Japan’s trade and industry minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said yesterday that Japan would appeal to the World Trade Organisation to counter any such sanctions.He said Japan would continue its own efforts to expand opportunities for foreign car and components makers to sell their products in Japan, including government support for foreign car showrooms in Japan’s major cities.The WTO has recently replaced GATT as the regulatory body for international trade.Its dispute procedure, involving a panel of “wise men” to investigate and recommend solutions, will be triggered if the two sides fail to reach agreement within the next 60 days.On Wall Street, dealers and analysts said the prospect of record-breaking sanctions against Japanese imports is likely to prompt fresh attacks on the dollar, probably pressuring it toward its post-war low of 79.75.Tom Moore, chief dealer at American Express, said: “It will probably be a very nervous Monday in the currency market.There is probably going to be a big sell-off in the dollar.”"The dollar is in for a difficult time,” said David Jones, the chief economist at Aubrey G Lanston. The threat of a trade war between the US and Japan looms larger today following the weekend breakdown of bilateral talks on automotive exports. And the prospect that the US will seek to impose trade sanctions raised new fears for the dollar.