In the face of a soaring U.S. trade deficit with Japan, which totalled $37 billion last year and could grow to more than $40 billion this year, demands have been mounting for easier U.S. access to Japanese markets. Since Japan's average tariff rate of 3 percent is already less than that of either the U.S. or the European Economic Community, attention has focused on Japanese nontariff barriers (NTBs). NTBs include import quotas, the "Buy National Products" law adopted by the Japanese government for domestic procurementf and various import regulations.