U.S., JAPANESE OPEN TALKS ON SEMICONDUCTORS
U.S. and Japanese officials meet
tomorrow to try to settle a dispute over semiconductor trade
and to cut short the 300 mln dlr penalty tariffs President
Reagan has ordered imposed on Japanese exports.
    But U.S. officials held out little hope that any accord
could be reached before the tariffs of 100 per cent - up from
about five per cent - are to take effect on April 17.
    The Customs Bureau last week started to levy a bond on the
Japanese goods that Reagan ordered penalized. The penalties
would be retroactive to March 31.
    Reagan said on March 27 when ordering the tariffs that he
hoped the Japanese would soon end their unfair practices in
semiconductor trade and that sanctions could be lifted.
    Technical meetings are to be held today and tomorrow, with
meetings at a more senior level scheduled for Thursday and
Friday. Public hearings on the sanctions are set for April 13.
    The Japanese aides here for the technical talks include
Shigeru Muraoka, director-general of international trade policy
of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), and
Masashi Yamamoto, deputy director-general of the information
and machinery bureau.
    Meeting with them will Glen Fukushima, director of the
Japan office of the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, and Jim
Gradoville, of trade representative's office of industry and
services.
    The two sides in the Thursday and Friday talks will be
headed by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Smith and
MITI vice minister Makoto Kuroda.
   
 Reuter
