U.S. Damps Expectations for Meeting of Bush, Kaifu : Summit: Fearing that stress on trade concessions might backfire, aides recast the talks as a global review.

The Bush Administration, concerned that mounting expectations over this weekend’s meeting between President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu might backfire, moved Thursday to recast the talks as a review of global political developments.

The new emphasis reflects the thinking of some senior Administration strategists that the session, which Bush proposed last Friday as an impromptu gesture, has raised unrealistic hopes about possible Japanese trade concessions and might end up exacerbating current tensions.

Although top trade strategists have been pressing Bush to prod Kaifu into making a commitment for Japan to be “more forthcoming” in the current round of U.S.-Japan trade negotiations, his senior foreign policy advisers are urging a more diplomatic course.

Officials said that while trade issues will be discussed generally, the two leaders probably will do little more than reaffirm their support for the broad bilateral economic and trade talks now under way, without making any firm concessions.

Instead, White House economist Michael J. Boskin told reporters, the two men are meeting as allies and will spend most of their time addressing ways Tokyo and Washington can work together--in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Third World.

“There is a big distinction between an ally versus an enemy, and a formidable competitor versus a weak competitor,” Boskin said. “Japan happens to be a staunch ally and a formidable competitor. That’s an important distinction to make.”

In a conciliatory gesture, Kaifu, in a speech delivered in Tokyo just before he took off for Palm Springs, pledged to enact new tax laws designed to help free some of Japan’s present farmland for urban use.

The opening of some of Japan’s agricultural land is one of half a dozen moves Washington has been urging Tokyo to make. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has sent legislation to the Japanese Parliament to help promote that.

However, the Japanese leader still left untouched a spate of other demands that the United States is pursuing, including an end to bid-rigging and collusive business practices in Japan, a reform of its pricing system and an overhaul of its product-distribution system.

The developments came as U.S. and Japanese negotiators in Tokyo appeared to narrow their differences on resolving a dispute over trade in supercomputers, raising the possibility that they will reach an accord in time to head off threatened U.S. sanctions. Under the 1988 Omnibus Trade Act, the Administration has until June 16 to decide whether to retaliate for alleged unfair trade practices.

But the two sides remained far apart on several other issues, ranging from satellites and forest products to construction, telecommunications and shipbuilding.

Over the next few weeks, the Administration is facing a spate of congressionally mandated deadlines that virtually require it to resolve outstanding trade disputes or else launch new unfair-trade-practices cases against Japan.

This weekend’s meeting between Bush and Kaifu is scheduled to begin with a brief introductory meeting late this afternoon. The two men will have dinner tonight and spend most of Saturday in a second meeting that will include top aides.

Bush will be accompanied by a bevy of Cabinet officers, including Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady, Trade Representative Carla A. Hills, Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher and National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft.

Kaifu is bringing Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama.