Japan, U.S. to talk trade ties at GATT meet

Japan, U.S. to talk trade ties at GATT meet

TOKYO (UPI): Japan said yesterday it will send its foreign minister to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor during international free trade talks next week in hope of breathing new life into stalled trade negotiations with Washington.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Takemura told reporters Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata would meet with Kantor during a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) conference scheduled April 12-15 in Marrakesh, Morocco.

"We hope this will provide us a chance to achieve a breakthrough," Takemura said.

He also dismissed a Japanese newspaper report on Sunday that said Tokyo would send a senior official to Washington this week to try and ease the trade tension. "We haven't decided on such a specific plan," he said.

Negotiations on a broad framework to reduce Japan's US$60 billion annual trade surplus with the United States stalled Feb. 11 over Tokyo's refusal to accept firm targets to measure its progress in opening its markets.

Since the collapse, the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton has taken an increasingly tough trade stance with Tokyo.

Last week Washington released a scathing report on what it charged were Japan's unfair trading practices. The report was widely seen as a precursor to possible trade sanctions against Tokyo this fall.

Japan is keen to defuse the issue both to head off possible sanctions and to halt a rise in the value of the yen, which inflicts further damage on its already floundering economy. Washington's sharp rejection of a Japanese plan to open its markets sent the yen soaring against the dollar last week. A strong yen makes Japan's products less competitive overseas and could overwhelm what appear to be early signs of an end to the country's worst recession since World War II.

Kantor has repeatedly said any solution to the trade impasse must include specific numerical targets.

Japan has charged such demands amount to managed trade, which would lead to increased regulation and undercut efforts toward free trade elsewhere.