Learn more

Under pressure to revive the U.S. economy in his bid for reelection, U.S. President George H.W. Bush asked for help from then Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa at their meeting in 1992, according to diplomatic records declassified Wednesday. In the one-on-one meeting in Tokyo on Jan. 8, 1992, Bush pushed Miyazawa for an agreement on a concrete numerical target regarding exports of U.S. auto parts to Japan, as the two economic powers were embroiled in fierce friction over trade, according to the records compiled based on an account by a senior Japanese diplomat who was at the talks. At th…