JAPAN IN LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO AVERT TARIFFS
Senior Japanese officials tomorrow
open talks with American trade negotiators in a last-ditch
effort to avert new high U.S. tariffs to be imposed on a wide
variety of Japanese electronic exports.
    Makoto Kuroda, vice minister of Japan's Ministry of
International Trade and Industry (MITI), is to hold two days of
meetings with the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Michael
Smith, and the Under Secretary of Commerce, Bruce Smart.
    The new tariffs, to go into effect on April 17, are in
retaliation for Japan's failure to adhere to an agreement to
end dumping semiconductors in world markets at below cost and
to open its home market to U.S. semiconductor shipments.
    They are to be imposed on goods which use semiconductors,
including television and audio equipment and computers.
    Both U.S. and Japanese officials have said there was little
likelihood the talks would do anything to avert the 100 pct
duties on 300 mln dlrs worth of Japanese shipments.
    President Reagan announced the planned tariffs on March 27
after he said that close monitoring of the July 1986
U.S.-Japanese semiconductor pact convinced U.S. officials that
Japan was not honoring the agreement.
    In making the annoucement, Reagan said "I am committed to
the full enforcement of our trade agreements designed to
provide American industry with free and fair trade."
    Trade analysts said his move was aimed as much at Japan's
semiconductor trade practices, which are said to have injured
the U.S. semiconductor industry, as Congress, which has
complained about presidential timidity on trade issues.
    Congressional Democrats have pledged to enact aggressive
trade laws to counter what they contend has been Reagan's
inaction to redress the growing U.S. trade deficit, which last
year reached 169.8 billion dlrs.
    About one-third of the deficit was with Japan.
    Reagan said there were recent signs Japan was beginning to
adhere to the pact and that was why he was not terminating it.
    Kuroda said on leaving Tokyo today he had no new proposals
but did have an explanation of the semiconductor situation.
    He told the daily newspaper Ashai Shimbun that Reagan's
decision was based on inaccurate data and an exaggerated sense
of MITI's power to control Japanese traders.
    "The United States has excessive expectations.," he said. To
stabilize supply-demand relations which have been disrupted by
excess inventories since 1985 will take some time."
    He also said that U.S. firms had not been aggressive enough
in trying to sell in the Japanese market.
 Reuter
