ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605200058
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
Rejecting calls that it select an American computer maker, the National Science Foundation announced Friday that it planned to buy a supercomputer from NEC Corp., the first such purchase by the government from a Japanese company.
At the same time, however, the foundation said it had evidence that NEC had offered the computer at a price below cost, supporting accusations by several congressmen and Cray Research Inc., NEC's American rival for the supercomputer contract.
According to a statement released late Friday by the foundation, commerce department officials had advised it that they had ``reached a preliminary conclusion that the proposal does not constitute an offer at `fair value.'''
The awarding of the supercomputer contract, which is worth $13 million to $35 million, had been closely watched as an indicator of U.S. trade policies.
Washington has generally said that it wants competitive forces to have a freer rein, and it has particularly pressed Tokyo to open its governmental procurement to foreign suppliers. But t
The award was critical to Cray, with thousands of American jobs at stake. Cray, the dominant U.S. supercomputer company, has struggled in recent years. o "I am absolutely appaled by the arrogance and irresponsibility dispalyed by officials of the NSF in their decision to go forward with the procurement of a Japanese-made supercomputer despite clear evidence that the computer is being dumped on the U.S. market by Japanese producers," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.
LENGTH: Short : 38 linesby CNB