Prime Minister to Call Bush

Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu was to reach a final decision later today on a package of reforms designed to remove impediments to trade between Japan and the United States. Kaifu was expected to then call President Bush to urge him to accept the proposals just hours before his negotiators present them to Washington officials.

Kaifu’s plan to call Bush early today was extremely unusual and underscored the critical nature of the negotiations.

Failure to win Bush’s approval of the reform package that Japanese negotiators, who arrived in Washington over the weekend, will present today could imperil both U.S.-Japan relations and Kaifu’s own grasp on power.

Continuing opposition from bureaucrats to reforms the United States has been demanding as part of the so-called Structural Impediments Initiative talks--the centerpiece of Bush’s trade policy toward Japan--delayed a decision that Kaifu originally had intended to make Friday. Meetings both Saturday and Sunday with key cabinet ministers also failed to overcome the resistance.