Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site mnetor.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utcsri!utcs!mnetor!clewis
From: clewis@mnetor.UUCP
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: High Duties => Increased Competitiveness?
Message-ID: <2186@mnetor.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Sep-85 13:45:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: mnetor.2186
Posted: Mon Sep 16 13:45:47 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 16-Sep-85 15:26:22 EDT
References: <1394@utcsri.UUCP>
Reply-To: clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis)
Distribution: can
Organization: Computer X (CANADA) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lines: 32
Summary: 

In article <1394@utcsri.UUCP> peterr@utcsri.UUCP (Peter Rowley) writes:
>OK, you free trade buffs, here's another one for you.  What's wrong
>with this argument (if anything)?
>
>1. Japan has had high import duties for a long time.
>2. Japan's industry is highly competitive in the world market.
>3. Canada's duties have been lower than Japan's for a long time.
>4. Canada's competitiveness is less than Japan's in the world market.
>
>Therefore, we should RAISE duties so our industry can become
>competitive like Japan's.

You left out several other variables.  Particularly, salaries.
Japan's cost of production is so much lower than ours that their
import duties probably don't make any difference overall.  Even if
Japan were to completely eliminate their duties, I don't think that
it would make any difference.  Particularly, since the Japanese seem
to think that Japanese products are of higher quality.

Therefore, we should either:

	1) LOWER the salaries for our workers so that our industry
	   can be more price-competitive.
	2) RAISE the salaries of Japanese workers so that their industry
	   can be less price-competitive.

I don't think either is particularly likely.  Though, elimination of
import duties may put pressure on (1).
-- 
Chris Lewis,
UUCP: {allegra, linus, ihnp4}!utzoo!mnetor!clewis
BELL: (416)-475-8980 ext. 321