Japan would not object if the US wanted to monitor its share of Japan’s semiconductor market unilaterally, although Tokyo plans no such proposal and has not heard of one from Washington, a Japanese trade official said. Senior US and Japanese trade negotiators were to meet in New Zealand over the weekend to discuss a dispute over what happens when a 1991 bilateral pact on access to Japan’s semiconductor market expires on July 31. Acting US trade representative Charlene Barshefsky will then meet Trade Minister Shunpei Tsukahara on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific ministers’ gathering. Washington wants a new two-way government pact, while Tokyo, backed by the European Community, has proposed a multilateral Global Government Forum to discuss semiconductor matters (CI No 2,952). The Nippon Keizai Shimbun said the trade ministry had a proposal under which Tokyo would accept US unilateral share monitoring but avoid setting numerical trade targets or import-promotion pledges. Last year Japan and the US forged a last-minute deal to settle a bitter row over car and car parts trade, under which the US forecast Japanese car parts purchases but the Japanese side did not. Some trade analysts speculate that agreement to disagree might be the only way to resolve the disagreement over chips.
