Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9408010081
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor announced the decision, saying he was acting because of ``Japan's failure to address longstanding discrimination against United States suppliers.''
American telecommunications giants have long complained that they are essentially locked out of the $10 billion telecommunications market because of discriminatory actions by the largely government-owned Nippon Telephone and Telegraph.
Likewise, American medical equipment manufacturers, who control about 40 percent of the market in Europe, say similar barriers have limited them to less than 20 percent of the Japanese market.
``The time has come to use our trade laws ... if necessary, to address the question of continued discrimination against U.S. companies,'' Kantor said.
The announcement Sunday started the clock ticking on a 60-day final negotiating period. If no agreement is reached by the end of that time, the administration has the power under U.S. law to impose higher trade tariffs on a selected list of Japanese products shipped to America.
In Tokyo, Japanese officials reacted calmly to the latest in a long series of U.S. sanction threats.
These officials, who requested anonymity, said that Japan hoped to reach agreements on telecommunications and medical equipment before Sept. 30, a deadline the United States had set for targeting countries deemed to have erected the most harmful trade barriers to American products.
U.S. officials also said they expected the talks to resume in September.
by CNB