American cars vs. Japanese cars
[Published in the Holland Sentinel, 1 April 1981]
When we compare American cars with those made in Japan, two things are evident: the difference in price and the difference in value. The Japanese cars are low-priced and very good mechanically, whereas the American cars are high in price and hundreds of thousands are recalled annually because of defects.
American automobile manufacturers and unions are now asking that the government limit the import of Japanese cars. On the surface, this might seem to be the thing to do, at least for the manufacturers and the unions. It would, however, blackmail the American people by forcing them to buy inferior cars for more money, and I object to that.
Furthermore, the American automobile industry has such high production capability that it is impossible to sell all the cars just in the USA. In order to exist and prosper, the American car industry must export, but in order to export it must be competitive.
The only solution is to make better cars at lower cost to enable us to compete globally not only with cars made by the Japanese, but also with those made by the Germans, French, Italians, etc. To do that, the industry must plan, design, and build quality cars and the American worker must be more efficient and productive and work at reduced wages.
I see no logical reason why an automotive worker gets $20 [per hour] for doing a certain job when a worker in another industry, for the same or a similar job, gets only $7 to $10 per hour. And how, in general, does a $20/hour wage rate compare to the salaries paid nationwide to college and university graduates who spent years and years to study a profession? It is quite evident that the American auto worker is grossly overpaid.
The "great achievement" of the unions in getting $20 per hour for a worker in the automobile industry has been a major cause of the current problem and has backfired not only on the worker, but on the whole nation. It has increased the demand for imported cars and practically closed the door for auto exports, thereby causing all the unemployment in the car industry and seriously worsening our balance of payments.