Japan May Hit Back at U.S. Steel Tariffs

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is considering raising duties on at least five products in retaliation against import tariffs protecting the U.S. steel industry, the daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Sunday.

Quoting Trade Ministry sources, the Nikkei said the products Japan was considering as targets for the retaliatory tariffs included coal, chemicals, steel, textiles and electrical machinery.

If introduced, the tariffs would cost U.S. exporters $91.9 million a year, the Nikkei said. The U.S. imposed the duties on steel in March 2002.

The paper said Japan would inform the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its decision to raise duties on the products at the end of November if the U.S. did not remove its steel tariffs by then.

Last week, the WTO issued a final ruling stating that the U.S. "safeguard" tariffs on steel were inconsistent with global trade pacts.

The European Union has threatened sanctions against $2.2 billion worth of U.S. exports, including citrus products from Florida, where President Bush's brother is governor and which was a key state in the president's 2000 election victory.

But the Nikkei said Japan's Agriculture and Finance ministries wanted to avoid slapping higher duties on agricultural products, so as not to directly affect domestic consumers.

President Bush said on Thursday he would make a decision on whether to lift the import tariffs "within a reasonable period of time."

Ishiba reassures Rumsfeld over SDF commitment to Iraq

By NAO SHIMOYACHI and KANAKO TAKAHARA
Staff writers

Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba told his American counterpart, Donald Rumsfeld, that Japan remains committed to a plan to send Self-Defense Forces personnel to Iraq at an early date, although he would not be drawn on a specific timetable.

Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force's inspection mission to Iraq prepare Saturday to leave Narita Airport.

"We would like to carry out our responsibility as a member of international society by making use of the SDF's ability as early as possible," Ishiba said Saturday in a joint news conference following an hourlong meeting with Rumsfeld.

His comments came on the same day as the government sent another fact-finding team of about 10 SDF officers to Samawah, southern Iraq.

The team is expected to examine the security situation in southern Iraq, which the government had believed was relatively stable.

The government was planning to commit ground troops to the country, but Wednesday's attack on an Italian base in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, which killed more than 20 people, including Italian troops, has forced the government to rethink its plan.

Samawah, about 80 km west of Nasiriyah, was selected as the destination for the Japanese troops because the security situation is considered better than in the Baghdad area.

Ishiba said the government would make a decision on the timing of the dispatch after examining the local situation, to which Rumsfeld expressed understanding.

"We believe that the situation is different for each country," Rumsfeld said. "Each nation will decide (to commit troops) when they feel it is appropriate."

During their hourlong meeting in Tokyo, Ishiba also urged Rumsfeld to consider measures to reduce the military burden on the people of Okinawa Prefecture. Okinawa is home to two-thirds of the 47,000-strong U.S. military presence in Japan.

"The Japanese government understands that the people of Okinawa, where 75 percent of the facilities of the U.S. forces in Japan are, bear a huge burden," Ishiba said in a news conference following his discussions with Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld did not comment on the U.S. government's plans for Okinawa, but said Washington has been reviewing the global deployment of U.S. forces for the last 2 1/2 years.

"We have developed concepts and ideas," Rumsfeld said. However, he said the issue is still "at the very early stage" of discussions and that the U.S. is "not at the stage of making proposals or anything like that."

Rumsfeld did not specify what the proposals might be, but the two agreed to continue discussing the issue at the working level, according to a defense agency official.

Rumsfeld is scheduled to fly to Okinawa on Sunday to meet Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine and visit U.S. forces there.

The realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan is part of Washington's plan to adjust its defenses to better deal with what Rumsfeld termed "the 21st century threats" of terrorism, ballistic missiles and cyber warfare.

Washington is also reportedly considering a reduction in the 37,000 U.S. forces stationed in South Korea -- possibly relocating as many as 12,000 -- to make its troops more readily available for operations beyond the Korean peninsula.

During the meeting, Rumsfeld assured Ishiba that security guarantees put forward to North Korea by the U.S. will not undermine the Japan-U.S. security alliance.

"The U.S. government is not going to make any arrangement with any country that would in any way undermine the security arrangement with Japan," he said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, who is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo on Sunday for a three-day visit, is expected to discuss the details of the security guarantee with his Japanese counterparts.

The two defense chiefs also exchanged views on a proposed missile defense system, for which Japan's Defense Agency is seeking 142.3 billion yen in its fiscal 2004 budget request.

Criminal talks sought
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld agreed Saturday on the need to resume talks over disputes concerning criminal procedures involving U.S. military personnel accused of crimes in Japan.
There have been no discussions on the matter since August.

"I would like to review the position of both sides and make an effort to fill in the gap," Rumsfeld said.

Kawaguchi responded that the issue needs to be resolved at an early date to ensure the "smooth implementation" of the Japan-U.S. security treaty.

Japan and the U.S. failed to reach an agreement in August on whether U.S. government representatives would be permitted to be present during interrogations by Japanese police.

Japan is reluctant to accept the U.S. request because Japan's judiciary system does not allow a criminal suspect's lawyer to be present during police questioning.

The Japan Times: Nov. 16, 2003

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