U.S. Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige said he hopes Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone will make specific proposals to ease U.S.-Japan trade friction at a meeting with President Reagan this week. He also told reporters he hopes the U.S. Will soon be able to lift sanctions imposed against Japan for alleged violations of an accord on semiconductors. We have been very specific about our trade problems he told a news conference during a stopover in Hong Kong. I hope (Nakasone) brings some specific answers to the trade problems. We want to lift the sanctions as soon as possible Baldrige said. He said that once the U.S. Determines that Japan is selling semiconductors at cost it will be able to lift the 300 mln U.S. Dlrs of duties it imposed on Japanese electronics goods on April 17. We have not seen that yet he said adding that it would take about one month to determine whether the alleged violations of a bilateral semiconductor pact had been discontinued. Baldrige did not say what specific solutions he wanted for U.S.-Japan trade problems. But the New York Times today quoted administration sources as saying that the U.S. May be able to lift trade sanctions against Japan by the end of June. Japan would have to show that it had stopped underpricing semiconductors and had widened access in Japan top U.S. Chip producers. Baldrige also said that despite the current trade rift the U.S. And Japan have long had friendly ties that neither side wants to change. We have a very special relationship with Japan. Japan is a friend and our ally Baldrige said. Neither one of us wants that to change. He also repeated statements that he did not foresee a trade war with Japan but that the U.S. Had no choice but to impose the trade sanctions.
BALDRIGE SAYS U.S. WANTS JAPAN TRADE PROPOSALS