U.S. Tariffs a ‘Good Lesson,’ Nakasone Says

Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said today that the steep U.S. penalty tariffs on selected Japanese products are regrettable but may have provided a “good lesson” for Japanese and Americans alike, a Foreign Ministry official said.

The official said Nakasone was responding to U.S. trade representative Clayton K. Yeutter, who told the prime minister that his office had been inundated with phone calls from congressmen asking that certain Japanese goods be excluded from the duties.

The United States last week imposed 100% tariffs on Japanese color televisions, calculators, power drills and small computers after accusing Japan of selling computer chips overseas below cost and failing to open its market to U.S.-made chips.

Japan denied the charge and has urged Washington to lift the sanctions as soon as possible.

Yeutter said many callers to his office supported the sanctions but feared that the tariffs would harm constituents who depend on some Japanese products, said the Japanese official, who spoke on condition she not be identified.

‘Deeply Interdependent’

The U.S. action against Japan thus had the positive effect of driving home how “deeply interdependent” the American and Japanese economies have become, the official quoted Yeutter as saying.

Nakasone replied that the sanctions, while regrettable, “may have offered a good lesson for both Japanese and Americans,” the official said. She quoted Nakasone as saying the sanctions showed both nations how important relations between the two nations have become.