PEOPLE

The Southeast Missourian asked people if they favored import restrictions on Japanese automobiles as a means to reduce America's trade deficit with Japan.

Debbie Sievers: "If American cars were not so expensive in Japan, they might buy more of them over there. I think that we should make it so that Japanese cars cost more here with taxes or something. Then the extra money that it would cost would be going to our country."

Mike Farrar: "I don't favor that. What is the major difference in getting the parts from Japan to assemble a car in the United States and getting the whole car shipped over here? Is a Toyota made here okay, and one shipped by boat not okay? American cars also use Japanese parts."

Sharon McGhee: "No. A lot of Japanese cars are made in the United States. These cars create revenue right here in our country by employing Americans. Isolation has not worked in the past, and I don't think it would work now. We should push to export our products over there."

Michael Clark: "We should put some restrictions on Japan to put pressure on them so they would see the need to open their markets to American cars. I think Japanese people would buy American cars because they are foreign and would turn some heads."

George Dordoni: "I drive a Mazda. I bought it from an American salesperson at an American dealership. There is a chance that it was built in America by American workers. I think the trade imbalance should serve as a challenge to the U.S. to build better cars."

Denise Davidson: "I have mixed feelings because my personal bias is to buy a Japanese car. If a finite number of Japanese cars could be imported, the cost would increase. I think then that more Americans would consider buying American cars which would cost less."