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

DATE: MONDAY, February 14, 1994                   TAG: 9402140075
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From Knight-Ridder/Tribune and The New York Times
DATELINE: TOKYO                                LENGTH: Medium

JAPAN MAY OFFER NEW TRADE PLAN TO REVIVE TALKS

Asked on TV Asahi's "Sunday Project" whether Japan plans to unveil a new proposal for the so-called framework talks, Takemura said, "Yes, presenting a new proposal is important and we should also continue our dialogue with U.S. officials on the political level."

In Washington, Clinton administration officials said Sunday that they had agreed that a swift response to Japan's rejection of U.S. demands was needed, but that they were struggling to find one unlikely to start a trade war.

"There is a unanimous understanding on the American side that there is a range of actions and that we will undoubtedly be choosing one or more of them," a senior official said.

The options under consideration range from moderate ones, such as ordering a study showing how Japan excludes imports in certain sectors, to powerful sanctions, such as reinstating the president's authority to use a potent trade law authorizing him to punish countries that systematically discriminate against American goods.

According to several officials, the Clinton administration might take action against Japan as soon as Tuesday, when a deadline expires for Japan to announce plans to open up its cellular telephone market to foreign products.

On another debate program, Takemura indicated that the framework talks could assume a new form, if the current arrangement does not lead to a successful conclusion.

"Japan may seek a new forum to discuss the problem," he said, without elaborating.

Takemura also told "TV Asahi" that he expects the United States and Japan to resume negotiations by early July "at the latest." The two nations should meet again before the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations meet for their annual summit in July, this year in Naples, Italy, the chief government spokesman said.

But Takemura did not indicate whether Japan might offer an alternative plan to numerical trade targets - the main sticking point that eventually led to the failure of the talks between President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa in Washington on Friday.

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