P.M. BRIEFING : Japanese Monopoly Probe Asked

Boone Co., an investment company owned by U.S. takeover specialist T. Boone Pickens, asked Japan’s Fair Trade Commission today to investigate possible violations of the anti-monopoly law by Japanese auto makers and parts suppliers.

A commission official, Yoshiro Sekine, said the panel will study Boone’s claims and decide what action to take.

Pickens has been seeking greater participation in the management of Koito Manufacturing Co., a Japanese auto parts maker, after becoming its largest single shareholder in March, 1989.

Sekine said Boone claimed that Japan’s 11 auto makers put unfair pressure on parts suppliers to lower the prices of their products.

He said Boone also claimed that the auto makers’ close relations with parts makers limit free competition among the parts suppliers and hinder entry by outside companies, especially foreign makers, into the Japanese market.