U.S. Fears Japanese Economic Peril More Than Soviets: Poll

NEW YORK — Americans are more concerned by the economic threat from Japan than by the military threat from the Soviet Union by a 3-to-1 margin, a new poll indicates.

In the Louis Harris poll for Business Week magazine, 68% of respondents named Japan as the bigger threat to the future of the United States, while 22% named the Soviet Union and 10% rated them equal.

Sixty-eight percent felt American companies’ troubles exporting to Japan were partly the result of unfair Japanese barriers, while 57% said American products were too expensive and 38% said they were not as good as Japanese products.