and other unilateral grants, in order to provide a balance on a country's current account (Council of Economic Advisers [CEA]. 1988, p. 36). It is generally within this broader definition that construction finds a role in the country's international trade problem.
Through the 1970s, construction was not a part of the US international trade problem. American construction firms contributed significantly to the country's services trade surplus. During the 1980s however, the construction trade surplus has declined rapidly, although, through the summer of 1988, it has not reached the point of deficit.
With respect to competition from construction firms from Western Europe, American firms generally suffer from a productivity disadvantage ("Can," 1986, p. 27). With respect to the Japanese however, the major problem is an absence of parity in the rules of the game: Japanese construction firms generally have free access to US domestic construction, while Japan (1) refuses to permit American construction firms to participate in Japanese public works projects, and (2) imposes artificial barriers to their participation in Japanese private sector construction projects. Both the official barrier to Japanese public sector construction, and the artificial barriers to Japanese private sector construction are the subject of intense Japanese/American trade disputes ("Japan Trade Fight Rolls," 1987, p. 149).
FOREIGN PARTICIPATION IN US DOMESTIC CONSTRUCTION
AS AN AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS P
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