ANN ARBOR (WKZO) -- U.S. automakers remain opposed to allowing Japan into the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, saying that the country has not done enough to open its market to the U.S. auto exports.  Now, a new study by Ann Arbor's Center for Automotive Research shows that if Japan is allowed to take part in the free-trade talks, the number of Japanese exports into the U.S. would jump dramatically.  A free trade agreement with Japan would reduce tariffs on incoming Japanese cars, making it more economical for them to build the cars there and send them here.

According to the study, this would mean a drop in vehicle production in the U.S. by 65-thousand and a loss of 26-hundred U.S. manufacutruing jobs.  Supplier jobs lost would be around nine thousand with an additional loss of nearly 15-thousand spin-off jobs.