Your front-page story for Feb. 6 told how the Japanese had failed to live up to their promise to buy more American goods. I have to wonder how we could expect them to when, if our situations were reversed, we would probably act just as they have.
I have travelled this country for about 50 years, and the only people I have ever met think it’s a good idea buy low, sell high and keep as much of the money as they can.
If I were a Japanese politician, I would have to take this official concern from Washington as just so much clucking and posturing, especially in light of the fact that official action, in the form of current tax laws, actually rewards the Japanese (and any other foreign company) for taking dollars out of the country and spending them anywhere but here.
Our byzantine corporate income tax law takes about 5 percent of every sales dollar from an American company and allows foreign companies to pay less than 1 percent. The result is the loss of billions of tax dollars and, from the Japanese point of view, overpriced American goods.
Furthermore, when this gap became a minor scandal some months ago, there was no reaction at all from Washington. How can anyone see this as anything other than an official endorsement of Japanese trade policy? What other interpretation can there be?
The Japanese are taking us for all we’ve got. We’ve taught many people the fine art of capitalism, but the Japanese are our star pupils. It makes one proud to be an American.
