U.S., JAPANESE OPEN TALKS ON SEMICONDUCTORS

  U.S. and Japanese officials meet
  tomorrow to try to settle a dispute over semiconductor trade
  and to cut short the 300 mln dlr penalty tariffs President
  Reagan has ordered imposed on Japanese exports.
      But U.S. officials held out little hope that any accord
  could be reached before the tariffs of 100 per cent - up from
  about five per cent - are to take effect on April 17.
      The Customs Bureau last week started to levy a bond on the
  Japanese goods that Reagan ordered penalized. The penalties
  would be retroactive to March 31.
      Reagan said on March 27 when ordering the tariffs that he
  hoped the Japanese would soon end their unfair practices in
  semiconductor trade and that sanctions could be lifted.
      Technical meetings are to be held today and tomorrow, with
  meetings at a more senior level scheduled for Thursday and
  Friday. Public hearings on the sanctions are set for April 13.
      The Japanese aides here for the technical talks include
  Shigeru Muraoka, director-general of international trade policy
  of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), and
  Masashi Yamamoto, deputy director-general of the information
  and machinery bureau.
      Meeting with them will Glen Fukushima, director of the
  Japan office of the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, and Jim
  Gradoville, of trade representative's office of industry and
  services.
      The two sides in the Thursday and Friday talks will be
  headed by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Smith and
  MITI vice minister Makoto Kuroda.
  

