BALDRIGE OPPOSES JAPANESE PURCHASE OF FIRM

  Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige
  has asked the White House to consider blocking the planned
  Japanese acquisition of a major U.S. supercomputer and
  semiconductor manufacturer for national security reasons, U.S.
  officials said.
      The officials, who asked not to be named, said yesterday
  that Baldrige has "serious concerns" about the sale of Fairchild
  Semiconductor Corp. to Fujitsu Ltd., another major electronics
  firm.
      The officials told Reuters that if the sale went through it
  could leave the U.S. military overly dependent on a foreign
  /ompany for vital high technology equipment used in its
  advanced missiles, aircraft electronics and intelligence
  gathering.
      In addition, they said, the sale would also worsen the
  already strained trade relations between the U.S. and Japan
  stemming from the huge Japanese surplus.
      The White House Economic Policy Council would consider the
  sale in the coming weeks, they said.
      Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger's position was not
  immediately known but in the past he has opposed the transfer
  of high technology to foreign governments and companies.
      Supercomputers made by Fairchild and other U.S.
  manufacturers are widely used throughout the world, but none
  have been sold to the Japanese government or to Japanese
  government-run agencies and universities.
  

