Japanese Builders’ Club Disbands After U.S. Bid-Rigging Complaints

TOKYO — Executives of Japanese building firms have disbanded a social club to help meet U.S. demands for an end to bid rigging in the local construction industry, company spokesmen said Monday.

The 32-member club had met monthly since 1983.

U.S. officials had voiced suspicions that the meetings, which were closed to outsiders, may have included discussions to assign projects to specific contractors.

The club was disbanded after seven leading members decided to withdraw, the Asahi Shimbun national daily reported.

Construction company spokesmen declined to identify the seven.

Bid rigging, or dango in Japanese, has been sharply criticized by Washington as an unfair trade practice that keeps foreign companies out of Japan’s construction market.

But one industry analyst said he doubted that such efforts would be effective.

“Construction firms do not really want to drop the dango system. Top officials might say it’s bad, but middle managers think it’s needed. No firm has yet officially prohibited its employees from using dango,” he added.