WASHINGTON (MTC) – From the rising cost of retiree health care to the advantages a weak yen gives the Japanese, the heads of the Big Three U.S. automakers will press for more recognition for their issues when they finally take their seats at the White House on Tuesday across from President Bush.

Recognition is something industry executives say has been lacking from the president. They’ll also attempt to draw distinctions between themselves and the foreign automakers whose U.S. branches generate record profits.

But they will make clear that they are not looking for a bailout.

The meeting should “enhance the president’s understanding of the importance of the domestic auto industry to the economic health of the United States,” General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said in a recent interview, emphasizing the word “domestic.”

Foreign automakers that build cars in the United States help the economy, “but it’s not the same as a fully integrated American auto company that retains the intellectual property in the United States, has primarily American shareholders,” he said, so “the wealth gets reinvested in the U.S.”

Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said Friday of the meeting with Bush: “What I’m looking forward to is just sharing with him the state of our industry and also talking about competitiveness going forward.”

All sides expect no firm commitments from the scheduled 45-minute session in the White House Roosevelt Room, which will include Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Al Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Friday that Bush planned to use the meeting to “reaffirm his support for the American auto industry, and his support for its growth and success.” Snow said Bush also will thank them for their progress on flexible-fuel and hybrid vehicles.

Whether or not GM Chairman Rick Wagoner, Mulally and Chrysler Group Chief Executive Tom LaSorda can get their points across to Bush, the industry does have a louder voice in Washington thanks to the rise of its most ardent backers in a Congress that, after last Tuesday’s election, will be controlled by Democrats.

“I hope this meeting produces some evidence that this administration finally understands the needs of the American auto industry to be treated fairly in the world marketplace,” said U.S. Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who is pegged to reclaim the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which handles many issues important to the auto industry.

Added Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.: “We need a government that’s a partner with the auto industry and manufacturing sector. Our companies do not compete with foreign companies. They compete with foreign governments.”

While congressional Democrats had pushed several pieces of legislation that would help the industry, their prospects are questionable, as the party’s leaders and Bush have yet to discuss their priorities in depth.

Here are the three topics that will dominate Tuesday’s meeting, and the outlook for each.

TRADE AND CURRENCY: A chronic complaint of the domestic automakers – the unfair advantage of a weak Japanese yen – has grown in Detroit’s executive suites as Toyota, Honda and Nissan rack up impressive profits.

The automakers contend that Japan artificially suppresses the value of its yen, making imported goods from Japan cheaper and boosting the profits exported from American customers. The automakers might press hard on currency issues because Bush is scheduled to meet with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday during his visit to Vietnam.

HEALTH CARE: Perhaps the single greatest threat to the automakers’ finances, health care adds $900 to $1,400 to the cost of every vehicle GM, Ford and Chrysler make. All three spend more on health care than on steel, and GM’s estimated costs for future retiree health-care benefits could wipe out the shareholder equity on its balance sheet later this year because of an accounting rule change.

ENERGY: “Energy independence” was the one Washington buzz phrase shared across party lines before the election, and will only gain momentum with the Democrats’ elevation in Congress.

The Detroit automakers pledged earlier this year to double the number of vehicles they build annually that can run on 85 percent ethanol fuel, and have pushed for more incentives to spread E85 fueling stations.

Bush has proposed revising fuel economy standards for passenger cars, which the industry hasn’t opposed, but has not supported the kind of higher standards many Democrats back.

One type of proposal that could gain momentum would be some sort of industry Marshall Plan, which would give U.S. automakers help with their benefit costs in return for increased spending on new fuel-efficient technologies such as plug-in hybrids.

Some lawmakers also have called for large boosts in the federal research spending on new vehicle technology such as fuel cells, which could allow automakers to do less of the heavy lifting in that type of research themselves.

Bush last met with the heads of Detroit’s automakers in Dearborn, Mich., in 2003, as he canvassed the country to build support for his tax-cut package, which all three of the companies’ then-CEOs pledged to support.

The last White House meeting with Detroit’s Big Three was in 1997, when auto and union executives warned President Bill Clinton that the Kyoto greenhouse gas reduction treaty could hurt their business. Clinton also chatted with CEOs during a 2000 visit to the Detroit auto show.

None of those events carried the anticipation of this meeting, because most of the automakers were healthy at those earlier meetings. But with roughly 70,000 jobs being cut by GM and Ford, and the German-owned Chrysler Group losing money, the political pressures have risen exponentially.