Remains Adamant on Sanctions : Reagan Hits ‘Hemming, Hawing’ on Trade Issue

President Reagan, sounding hopeful about long-range U.S.-Japanese relations but adamant in holding to the trade sanctions he recently imposed, said Monday that the answer to America’s trade problems with Japan “is not more hemming and hawing.”

Instead, he recommended “fair and open markets on both sides of the Pacific. And the sooner, the better.”

On the eve of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone’s visit to Washington, Reagan vowed in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that he would take whatever steps are needed to make sure that other nations hold to their international trade agreements and obligations.

Opposes Gephardt

And, with the House nearing completion of its work on trade legislation, Reagan continued his campaign against the tough trade sanctions proposed by Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.).

The House is expected to vote on the Gephardt amendment later this week. It would require the imposition of import tariffs against nations that have large trade surpluses with the United States and fail to eliminate trade barriers.

Such a measure, Reagan said, “would make us use a steamroller against unfair practices every time, no matter whether the steamroller would open the trade doors or flatten the entire house.”

He added: “For more than a century, growing trade has meant more American jobs; shrinking trade has meant fewer jobs.”

100% Tariffs

On April 17, with the U.S. trade deficit with Japan running nearly $60 billion last year, the President slapped 100% tariffs--a total of $300 million--on three kinds of Japanese products--medium-sized color television sets, power tools and small personal computers.

The tariffs, the first since World War II to retaliate for allegedly unfair Japanese trading practices, were in response to Japan’s failure to enforce an agreement reached with the United States to limit the sale of semiconductors in third countries at below-cost prices. Semiconductors are the memory microchips that retain data in computers and other electronic equipment.

“I hope that, before long, we can lift these and that this episode will be recorded as a small incident in the building of our relationship,” Reagan said. “But we will do what is necessary to see that other nations live up to their obligations and trading agreements with us. Trade must be free. It must also be fair.

Fair and Open Markets

“The final answer to the trade problems between America and Japan is not more hemming and hawing, not more trade sanctions, not more voluntary restraint agreements--though these may be needed as steps along the way--and certainly not more unfulfilled agreements. The answer is genuinely fair and open markets on both sides of the Pacific. And the sooner, the better.”

At the same time, Reagan said his recent resort to trade sanctions demonstrated that he does not need the Gephardt amendment to take tough action against the Japanese when necessary.

“We’ve used the full range of tools available under the law to work for more open markets,” he said. “I’ve found they’re good tools that fit many different situations--both those that require firmness and those that need finesse.”

Asks Flexibility

Instead of the measure sponsored by Gephardt, a candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, Reagan asked Congress to give him flexibility in dealing with trade problems.

“It’s more effective,” he said, “and we won’t risk sending our economic relationship with a friendly country crashing into the sea because Congress put our policy on automatic pilot.”

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, meanwhile, said that the Administration had no specific timetable for lifting the sanctions against Japan. While the Administration would like to remove the tariffs before the annual economic summit meeting of the seven major industrial nations beginning on June 8 in Venice, Fitzwater said: “There is no target to try to do it before the summit.”