Germany increased the size of its consumer population by 12 million with the reunification of the two German entities, East Germany with West Germany. This reunification involved the most economically powerful country in the emerging EC--West Germany--and one of the poorer countries of the former Warsaw Pact--East Germany. It was speculated at the time that this shift would damage Germany's economic strength, and indeed it has placed a strain on it as the people of East Germany have some way to go before catching up with their western counterparts. Still, Germany remains an economic powerhouse and a good market for a number of goods from other regions.
The countries of Europe have long dreamed of a Europe without borders, a Europe without trade barriers or barriers to the free flow of goods and people from one country to another. The dream has come closer to a reality with the creation of the european Community and specifically with the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty as a step in an ongoing process that might one day lead to a Europe united in more than trade. This prospect has created fears among some, however, and some of the member states, or their leadership, have seen the developing EC as a challenge to their sense of sovereignty and autonomous rule. At present, the EC as constituted since 1992 is an economic common market, spurred to integration by the perception that only in this way would Europe be able to compete in the future against the growing Asian market and the continuing American market. There are twelve nations in the EC, including Germany, which stands as the most economically powerful of the 12 states.
The product to be imported is one more familiar in the United States than in many countries of Europe--the dishwasher, a large appliance for the home that has not been a staple in most European countries. It is certainly a new item to those in the former East Germany, and it has not penetrated the ma...