EC PREPARES MOVES TO STOP JAPAN DEFLECTING EXPORTS
The European Community (EC) is ready
to take measures to ensure that Japanese exports expected to be
effectively excluded from the U.S. Market from today are not
diverted to the EC, a spokesman said.
    President Reagan is expected to announce later today the
imposition of 100 pct tariffs on 300 mln dlrs worth of Japanese
goods ranging from computers and television sets to power tools
and photographic film.
    The spokesman for the EC executive Commission said
representatives of member states last Friday agreed a series of
measures to prevent Tokyo deflecting exports to the EC.
    The spokesman declined to detail the measures, saying they
were technical, and the Commission would decide their precise
content depending on the exact details of the measures
announced by Reagan.
    The EC fears Tokyo will step up exports to it of a range of
products including calculating machines, measuring instruments,
small televisions, tapes and some machine tools as a result of
the U.S. Measures.
    But the spokesman said there was thought to be ample time
to put the countermeasures in place after the Easter holiday.
    He noted the probable outline of Reagan's announcement and
its date have been known for some time.
    The Japanese manufacturers of goods likely to be affected
by the announcement are thought to have been stepping up their
exports to the United States in recent weeks in order to beat
the April 17 deadline, he noted.
    They were therefore unlikely to have stocks available for
export to the EC immediately, he said.
 REUTER
