_{Then Japanese agricultural minister Masami Tanabu on rice imports, which were banned in}

_{his country at the time: "A country imports something which it is unable to supply by itself. I}

_{prefer not to talk about imports of something which a country is able to produce enough of.}

_{I think that is what trade should be."}

What sort of view of trade is this? Would David Richardo have approved of this policy? Who benefits and loses from this Japanese policy? (Note: Japanese consumers were paying several times the world price for rice, their main staple, at the time Tanabu made his remarks.)