Presidential power to limit car imports passes House

The House, expressing displeasure with Japan and other auto exporting nations , voted overwhelmingly to authorize the president to negotiate limits on auto and truck imports. The resolution, if passed by the Senate as expected, would remove a legal cloud over the administration's power to negotiate such limits. Under the legislation, a president could enter into negotiations with Japan, Germany, or any other auto exporting country on limits of imports into the United States. No agreement could extend beyond July 1, 1983. The president must first decide that imports were causing serious injury to the US auto industry and that the industry itself had exhausted all its remedies under the Trade Act of 1974.