
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 3, 1994                   TAG: 9403030043
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

SANCTIONS ON JAPAN EXPECTED

With no progress in its trade showdown with Japan, the Clinton administration today is expected to issue an executive order allowing the United States to impose sanctions on countries deemed unfair traders.

One congressional source said Wednesday that the order was expected today, but an administration official said the timing was not that exact and could come anytime this week. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Clinton, however, told reporters Wednesday that "we haven't made a final decision about how exactly to proceed on that."

The administration has been increasing pressure on Japan since Feb. 11, when a summit between Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa ended in failure. Japan refused to accept American demands in so-called "framework" negotiations to set import goals for opening Japan's markets.

Clinton told reporters in the Oval Office that the United States was trying to "open the market," not only for American products, but also for the rest of the world's imports as a way of reducing Japan's record trade surpluses.

The congressional source said Clinton had reviewed a set of options put together by his National Economic Council and had indicated he wanted to reinstitute a lapsed portion of U.S. trade law known as Super 301.

That provision allows the administration to target countries deemed the worst offenders in terms of unfair trading practices such as erecting barriers against American products.

If negotiations over an 18-month period fail to remove the barriers, the administration can impose punitive tariffs of up to 100 percent against a portion of that country's exports to the United States.

U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would say only that the president continued to review a variety of options in the wake of the failed talks.

Various key members of Congress, including Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Finance subcommittee that handles trade matters, have been pushing for reinstitution of Super 301, which was passed by Congress in 1988 in an effort to force the executive branch to take more forceful actions against Japan.

Under its provisions, the Bush administration in 1989 targeted Japan, Brazil and India and eventually won market-opening agreements from Japan and Brazil before the law expired in 1990.

by CNB