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To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (27696)	2/3/1999 10:26:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116791

U.S. Talks of 'Crisis' in Japan Trade ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By Alan Friedman International Herald Tribune ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ROME - Trade tensions between the United States and Japan are mounting, and Washington is prepared to impose sanctions on Tokyo unless Japan takes rapid action to open its markets in steel, construction and other sectors, according to two senior U.S. officials. ''I think this is the year in which we will find out if the world financial crisis turns into a trade crisis,'' said David Aaron, U.S. undersecretary of commerce for international trade. ''We keep telling Japan that this is the time to take down their trade barriers, but as usual they are unresponsive.'' Mr. Aaron said that with its economy in recession and purchases of U.S. goods dropping, this was a good time for Tokyo to ease its barriers. ''With their recession under way, they won't be importing a lot anyway, and therefore they won't be affected,'' Mr. Aaron said. ''But they remain unresponsive. When they are doing well they ignore our entreaties, and when they are doing poorly they say they can't do anything.'' Mr. Aaron said Washington was urging both the European Union and Japan to open their markets in order to help ease the current financial crisis. ''Right now the United States is the import market of first, last and only resort, and we are looking at a trade deficit of $250 billion to $300 billion in 1999,'' he said. ''What we are asking our European and Japanese friends to do is open their markets more to exports from Russia, Asia and Latin America, but I don't think they consider that to be part of their responsibility.'' The same message was hammered home Wednesday by Charlene Barshefsky, the U.S. trade representative. ''Japan has not sufficiently increased domestic demand-led growth,'' she said in an interview in Rome, ''nor has it sufficiently opened its market and deregulated its economy. It is a drag on Asia, and in attempting to export its way out of recession Japan is responsible for substantially increased trade tension with the United States.'' Ms. Barshefsky said that Europe must also play its part to alleviate the world crisis. ''We urge Europe to stand with us in maintaining an open market atmosphere and in lowering import barriers particularly on Russian steel and Japanese autos. Europe must play an ever important role in global recovery.'' Mr. Aaron singled out the steel and construction sectors as examples of what he called Tokyo's ''unresponsive attitude.'' ''In steel there has been a massive surge of Japanese exports to the United States,'' he said, ''and if the surge doesn't stop soon then we will initiate trade counter-measures.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------ <Picture> iht.com