Reagan Sends Envoy to Japan for Trade Talks

WASHINGTON —  Hoping to avert a possible trade war with Japan, President Reagan has sent a personal envoy to Tokyo in an effort to persuade the Japanese to open their markets to U.S. telephone and communications equipment, the White House said Saturday.

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said Japan’s problems with the United States and other trading partners are a “serious headache.” Japan “must recognize the seriousness” of the recent U.S. Senate resolution urging the Reagan Administration to restrict the import of Japanese goods, Nakasone said.

The prime minister will meet today with Gaston Sigur, a member of the U.S. National Security Council staff, who is carrying a personal message from Reagan appealing for easing of trade restrictions.

‘Final Effort’ for Access

Sigur and Commerce Undersecretary Lionel H. Olmer flew hurriedly to Tokyo on Friday as part of a “final effort to get access for American exporters to Japanese markets,” White House spokesman Marlin M. Fitzwater said.

A potential market of $10 billion in goods and services will become available in Japan after Monday, when the government-owned Nippon Telephone & Telegraph Co. becomes a private firm, able to buy large amounts of equipment outside the country. But there is more at stake.

For the United States, the telecommunications issue has become a test of whether Japan is serious about allowing American merchandise past its barriers of bureaucracy and tradition. The United States had a trade deficit of $37 billion with Japan last year, and the gap is expected to grow wider this year. American markets are virtually wide open to goods from Japan and all other competitors, say U.S. trade officials, who argue that fairness demands that Tokyo open its markets fully to U.S. products.

American policy-makers have selected several key merchandise categories in the drive to improve access to Japan: telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and wood and paper products.

During talks with Reagan in January, Nakasone agreed that his country would make greater efforts to accept U.S. goods. Reagan has repeatedly praised Nakasone for being cooperative and has noted that the Japanese leader has political difficulties in breaking down his country’s trade barriers.

Despite the warm rapport between “Ron” and “Yasu,” as the leaders call each other, officials of the two governments have been unable to work out details of expanded market access for U.S. merchandise.

The already tense atmosphere of negotiations worsened last week when the Japanese announced that they will raise auto shipments to America by 450,000 vehicles during the year starting April 1, up from 1.85 million under the current voluntary quota system. The White House said the figure is not a “significant” restraint because it is close to Japan’s export capacity. But the Japanese contended that they could have increased shipments even more.

The White House has insisted that there is no link between Japanese auto sales in this country and the effort to get more U.S. goods into Japan. But Congress responded in a surge of anti-Japanese sentiment.

The Senate adopted, by a 92-0 vote, a resolution urging the Administration to take steps within 90 days to stifle the inflow of Japanese goods if Japan fails to accept more U.S. products. At a House committee hearing, members angrily denounced Japan’s reluctance to dismantle its trading barriers.

Fear Political Disruption

Reagan and Nakasone are clearly worried that trade tensions could disrupt the close political ties between their nations.

“It is the first time for the U.S. Senate to adopt a unanimous resolution asking us for restraint,” Nakasone said Saturday in a television interview. Japan “must recognize the seriousness of such a resolution and adopt measures accordingly,” he said.

Nakasone said he plans to issue a special statement in April discussing trade tensions.

The prime minister faces the difficult task of persuading Japanese government officials and business leaders to alter their normal inclination to ignore foreign products. “I am thinking of appearing on television to explain the situation and ask the Japanese people for cooperation,” he said.

Sigur, the man selected to deliver Reagan’s appeal to Nakasone, is a personal friend of the Japanese prime minister and a former head of the East Asian Studies department at George Washington University.