Know one is asking anyone to hate the Japanese. But a level playing might help with the biggest players.
“a level playing might help with the biggest players.”
I certainly understand the impulse.
People will disagree on what is the right playing field. I think the main reason for taxes, including tariffs, is to raise revenue. I mention this because sometimes people want taxes to manage behavior.
There are several kinds of taxes that the government can use to raise taxes. If any particular tax gets too high, people will go to extreme lengths to get around it. Adam Smith recommended the use of a variety of taxes, none too high, so as not to skew behavior too much.
Americans can have many discussions about which tax we prefer. I don’t know how much business we have lecturing other countries about their taxes.
The idea of intellectual property is another matter. First off, property is another matter. It seems we turn a blind eye when other countries “nationalize” (steal) our businesses. Send in the Marines! Intellectual property (computer code, movies, etc.) is more abstract. I think this has to be worked as a topic in its own right.
When a country enacts a tariff, their consumers lose. In the full course of events, their exporters tend to lose too. It’s just a bad idea. They are shooting themselves in the foot. Oftentimes the response is “Oh yeah? I can shoot myself in the foot too.”