No Settlement Seen Soon in Trade Talks

U.S. and Japanese negotiators have made progress in talks here over beef and citrus trade but do not appear on the verge of a settlement, Japanese and U.S. officials said Thursday.

“There’s been substantial progress, but we’re nowhere near the end of the story,” a U.S. official said.

At issue are Japan’s quotas on quality beef, veal, oranges and orange juice. The Reagan Administration claims the restrictions violate international trading rules and has demanded they be dismantled.

The Japanese tabled a proposal on Tuesday to phase out the quotas over several years, assure annual increases in imports over the transition period and raise tariffs on imports, U.S. industry sources said.

Michael, the chief U.S. negotiator, offered a counterproposal on Wednesday in response to the Japanese initiative. The proposal, beef industry sources said, would require lower tariffs and higher annual increases in imports during the phase-out period.

Washington and Tokyo have held two rounds of talks on the farm product case, nicknamed the GATT-12 because it involved a total of 12 products, but reached no conclusion.

A U.S. request that the Council of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade take another look at the GATT-12 case could intensify pressure on Japan to settle the beef and citrus row because the world trading body might criticize Tokyo for not opening up its markets.