U.S., JAPAN CHIP TALKS TO START NEXT WEEK
U.S. and Japanese negotiators will
hold emergency meetings next week to try to resolve their row
over semiconductors, but a U.S. official said it was not likely
the talks would delay the planned American sanctions.
    Officials said the talks, which were announced yesterday by
U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter, were being held
under the emergency provisions of the U.S.-Japanese
semiconductor agreement.
    A spokesman for Yeutter said officials of the Japanese
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) would hold
technical talks with U.S. officials next Monday and Tuesday.
    The spokesman, Gary Holmes, said that on Thursday and
Friday Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Smith would
meet with MITI vice president Makoto Kuroda.
    But Holmes added "do not expect the problem to be resolved
or the sanctions not to go into effect."
    The 300 mln dlrs in tariffs on Japanese exports is set to
go into effect on April, following public hearings which begin
in Washington on April 13.
 reuter
