Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 10, 1993 TAG: 9301120377
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A TRADE WAR IN WHICH ONLY ONE SIDE FIGHTS
AS THE COUNTRY, and Roanoke, sink slowly from the technology-driven into the fast-food-driven economy, it is time to ponder why - after 60 percent devaluation of the dollar against yen in 20 years - we still have a trade deficit of some $5 billion per month (October 1992) with Japan.Is there perhaps something wrong with the terms of trade that the Japanese enjoy with the United States? Any publicity regarding the possible inequalities in trade has in the past been downplayed by the press as just "Japan bashing."
Well, finally, Channel 15 (Public Broadcasting Station) courageously aired a documentary Dec. 15 titled, "Coming from Japan." This program, although derogatory to Japanese business methods, cannot be classified as "Japan bashing" because it offered documented evidence of the illegal and dishonest practices that were employed by the Matsushita Corp. to kill the U.S. television industry.
Mr. Matsushita is now revered as a national hero in Japan, and is being promoted as an example of Japanese craftiness.
To make things worse, the Matsushita Corp. is belligerantly flouting its craftiness in its U.S.-based assembly and marketing subsidiaries, by discriminating against the American employees in the application of promotion and layoff practices: The Japanese cannot be fired, the Americans need not be promoted.
Mr. Matsushita's success story is now a required seminar for the Japanese business people. We can expect other Japanese companies to be influenced by his successful methods.
Documentaries like the above should be viewed and discussed in our schools to raise the awareness of our plight. We just cannot ignore the fact that the Japanese are waging a trade war with us, and our government is merely turning the other cheek. HENRY H. ROOS ROANOKE