Japanese May Be Banned From U.S. Projects:...

Japanese May Be Banned From U.S. Projects: A federal panel has recommended that Japanese firms be kept out of U.S. public construction projects unless Japan further opens its construction market to American firms, Bush Administration officials said. U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills has until May 1 to determine if Japan has abided by a 1988 agreement to drop its restrictions on foreign firms bidding on many of the big construction projects planned or under way in Japan. If no progress is made, the officials said, the Administration would announce its retaliatory steps to block Japanese firms from bidding on U.S. public transportation, energy and water projects.