JAPAN WARNS OF ANTI-U.S. SENTIMENT IN TRADE ROW
Japan is sending a three-man team to
Washington to try to halt threatened trade sanctions that
officials warn could spark a wave of anti-U.S. Sentiment here.
    The team will lay the groundwork for high-level emergency
talks next week aimed at defusing an increasingly bitter row
over trade in computer microchips, officials said.
    "The sanctions are against the free trade system," Ministry
of International Trade and Industry (MITI) director general
Noboru Hatakeyama told reporters, adding: "If these measures are
taken, the atmosphere in Japan against the United States would
become not so good as before."
    Other officials were more blunt. "The U.S. Action will have
a significant impact on the growing anti-U.S. Feeling (here),"
another MITI official said.
    A senior Foreign Ministry official, who declined to be
identified, told Reuters the U.S. Threats have undercut those
in the government who argue for conciliation.
    "There is a very strong argument in Japan that since the
United States is imposing tariffs unilaterally, why should we
bother doing anything," he said. "Anything we do, we will be
bashed."
    The senior official sounded pessimistic about the
likelihood of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone defusing U.S.
Anger over Japanese trade practices when he visits Washington
on April 29.
    "I don't think trade friction will be solved all of a sudden
(by the visit)," he said.
    Nakasone is widely expected to present a package of
measures to President Reagan to help contain U.S. Frustration
over Japan's large trade surplus.
    But the senior official played down those expectations.
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