From: utzoo!decvax!ittvax!swatt
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Title: Re: tariff
Article-I.D.: ittvax.682
Posted: Sun Apr 17 13:22:45 1983
Received: Wed Apr 20 06:22:59 1983
References: rocheste.1256

What tariffs Japan imposes on importation of US motorcycles affects
the price in Japan of motorcycles, not the price in the US.  Tariffs
DIRECTLY benefit manufacturers and only indirectly benefit consumers,
on the theory that a thriving domestic industry will, in the long run,
provide more competition.  Even the apologists for tariffs admit they
are a temporary expedient to protect a developing domestic industry
from established foreign competition.

However, it seems to me that Japanese industry is not in any great
need of protection, and hence the tariffs on imported US goods should
be eased.  In this context, the motorcycle tariff can be viewed as
bargaining leverage:  "you lower yours, and we'll lower ours."

"Dumping", unlike Japanese import duties, represents unfair domestic
competetion.  I have heard these charges, but haven't seen them
documented.  In the steel industry, which has been heavily
investigated, it has been shown that the Japanese produce a ton of
steel for significantly less HOURS of labor than US companies, which
makes charges about lower wage scales moot.

Dumping is also a short-range tactic; if you sell a product for less
than it costs you to make it, you lose money.  This can only continue
for a limited period.  The structure of industry-government relations
in Japan is sufficiently different from that in the US to make
investigations into government "subsidy" of industry difficult.
Our own situation has a great deal more govenment support of industry
than "free trade" proponents care to admit.  Take government-funded
research (ARPA), or the entire NASA program, which by law must transfer
technology to the private sector.

However, back to motorcycles.  Japanese bikes made available for the
first time to the average US consumer:

	disk brakes (Honda 750, in '69 I think), now standard
	shaft drive (Honda Gold Wing, Honda CX500),
		now quite common in the 650 and up displacements.
	vastly increased reliability, smoother operation,
		non-oil leaking, etc.

and in the process have changed the public image of motorcycles to
the point they're almost respectable.

Honda started out as a garage operation using surplus generator
engines and revolutionized the industry.  No domestic manufacturer,
certainly not Harley-Davidson, has done a fraction of what the
Japanese companies have done to provide basic engineering quality
at a price people can afford.

Frankly, all the complaints about "sending American dollars to Japan"
is malarky.  As a direct result of increased motorcycle sales in the
US, lead by Japanese bikes, more Americans are employed in the various
service industries associated with motorcycles.  Parts are stocked in
the US, repairs are made in the US, accessories are made and sold in
the US, advertising campaigns are created and carried out in the US,
etc.  The Japanese companies can probably claim no small credit for
INCREASING the net number of motorcycle industry jobs for Americans.

If I had the money, I'd own a BMW.  Since I don't, I have to settle
for second best.

	- Alan S. Watt (Suzuki GS850 owner)