U.S.-JAPAN TALKS SEEN NO DELAY TO TARIFFS
President Reagan's move to impose
stiff tariffs on Japanese goods stems from deep U.S.
frustration over Japan's trade policy, and he has no intention
of calling off the sanctions, trade analysts said.
    U.S. officials put down any idea of delaying imposing the
300 mln dlrs in tariffs, despite seemingly contradictory
comments by some Administration aides.
    A visit here next week by Japanese trade officials and a
visit to Tokyo by a senior State Department official will
likely do nothing to change the U.S. decision, they added.
    "Do not expect the problem to be resolved or the sanctions
not to go into effect," said a senior U.S. trade official.
    Reagan last Friday announced that on April 17 he would
raise tariffs on certain Japanese exports to penalize Japan for
breaking a 1986 pact governing trade in semiconductors.
    Some U.S. officials had hinted the United States and Japan
might settle their dispute in time to hold off the tariffs, but
this has now been dismissed by other senior officials.
    They noted that negotiations over compliance with the pact
had been going on for several months, with little success.
    Japanese firms this week announced plans to cut chip output
and increase U.S. chip imports, but U.S. officials said Japan's
move was too late to stave off the American tariffs.
    The tariffs are to be imposed after a period of public
comment, but Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige said any
settlement would probably come too late to delay the tariffs.
    U.S. Trade Represenative Clayton Yeutter predicted Japan
would not be able to comply with the pact in time to hold off
the new tariffs on goods including personal computers,
television sets, power tools and electric motors.
    Trade analysts said that in any case the U.S.-Japanese
semiconductor dispute was only one of many, and trade frictions
will continue until Japan ended a policy of predatory pricing
and opened its home market to foreign goods.
    Other disputes include Japanese prevention of U.S. firms
from taking part in building a new eight billion dlr airport
near Osaka and selling a wide variety of goods in Japan,
including an array of agricultural products.
    A new row has now arisen over Japan's decision to severely
limit foreign participation in its telecommunication market.
    U.S. officials have said the American telecommunications
market is open to foreign firms and it was only fair trade to
open the Japanese market to 33 pct foreign participation, as
Japan had previously agreed.
    Britain has also protested the Japanese limitations.
 Reuter
