JAPAN'S CHIP MAKERS ANGERED BY U.S. SANCTION PLANS
Japanese computer chip makers reacted
angrily to news the United States plans to take retaliatory
action against them for allegedly failing to live up to an
agreement on trade in computer microchips.
    Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ) Chairman
Shoichi Saba stated: "EIAJ believes that it is premature and
even irrational to attempt an assessment of the impact of the
agreement and our efforts to comply with it only six months
after concluding the agreement."
    "We urge U.S. Governmental authorities to reconsider the
decision made, to evaluate fairly the results of Japanese
efforts in implementing the objectives of the agreement, and to
resist emotional biases," he said.
    Yesterday, Washington announced plans to slap as much as
300 mln dlrs in tariffs on Japanese imports in retaliation for
what is sees as Japan's failure to comply with the terms of the
pact.
    The agreement, struck late last year after months of heated
negotiations, called on Japan to stop selling cut-price chips
on world markets and to buy more American-made semiconductors.
    To salvage the pact, Tokyo has instructed its chip makers
to slash production and has helped establish a multi-lateral
organisation designed to promote chip imports.
    Saba said that Japanese chip companies have pledged three
mln dlrs over the next five years to the new organisation and
expressed regret that no American company has seen fit to join.
    "This suggests that American semiconductor manufacturers may
not be really interested in participating in the Japanese
market," he said.
 REUTER
