Japanese Remarks Upset Bush : Trade: But he says he’s satisfied with ‘correction’ from Tokyo. His stance reflects uneasy relations and political pressures.

President Bush said Wednesday that he was upset this week by Japanese comments critical of American workers but pronounced himself satisfied with a hasty “correction” from Tokyo that sought to head off resurgent trade tension.

The blunt indication of displeasure marked the first public response by Bush to the sharp words from Japan and reflects the still-uneasy state of U.S.-Japanese relations after the President’s widely criticized trade mission to Asia.

In a new attempt to resuscitate political benefit from that journey, the White House staged a ceremony Wednesday to formalize one of its few achievements, an agreement by Japan to buy more computer products and services.

But with political rivals on both left and right continuing to take aim at Tokyo, Bush maintained his effort Wednesday to keep relations on a high plane. He also made clear that he no longer can afford to turn the other cheek in the face of criticism from Japan.

“I was pleased with the correction--or the comments--coming out of Tokyo yesterday,” Bush said, choosing his words carefully at an early-morning press conference. “I was not pleased with the statements that challenged the ability of American workers. I have full confidence in the American workers’ competence, their ability. . . . So when I saw a statement challenging that, I was upset.”

Bush apparently referred to comments made by Yoshio Sakurauchi, the Speaker of Japan’s lower house of Parliament, who was quoted as saying over the weekend that American workers are unproductive. Sakurauchi, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, issued a statement Tuesday calling it “regrettable” that his comments were “liable to cause misunderstanding and . . . were taken as if to disparage or slight American workers.”

“We’ve got the best workers in the world,” Bush declared in response to the widely publicized criticism from Japan.

Japanese officials also sought Tuesday to reassure the United States that, despite remarks suggesting otherwise, Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa had no intention of backtracking on Japan’s pledge to increase purchases of auto parts and imports of autos. Bush said Wednesday that he is “pleased with the reaffirmation of goals that were established” during his Jan. 7-10 visit to Tokyo.

But even as he granted his forgiveness, his unusually sharp language reflected the degree to which trade tensions between the two countries have become a political issue.

Because Miyazawa merely restated the fact that the trade agreements he reached with Bush involved goals rather than binding pledges, Administration officials and most members of Congress sought to play down the potential for a rift. But Sakurauchi’s disparaging remarks threatened to add to frictions, which have already helped to frame themes of presidential candidates.

In the Republican presidential race, conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan has used an “America First” theme to criticize Bush for being too concerned with interests of Japan and other foreign nations.

Among Democrats, Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska has been most outspoken in a five-man field in asserting that Bush had “gone begging” to the Japanese for trade concessions. A television advertisement now being broadcast by Kerrey in New Hampshire features the senator leaning on a hockey net and promising that, if the Japanese won’t play fair in trade, “they’ll find out that this President can play a little defense, too.”

Bush, in criticizing Tokyo, sought to strike at his opponents, as well. “I hope they don’t judge American policy by some of the outrageous statements I’ve seen against them,” he said. “And I won’t judge Japanese policy by some of the outrageous statements I’ve seen against us.”

But a new source of dispute emerged later in the day as Bush’s special trade representative, Carla Anderson Hills, hailed the U.S.-Japan agreement on computers. She said it has opened to the United States an industry worth $9 billion a year. A Japanese spokesman, Seiji Morimoto, quickly told reporters here that the figure was overstated by a factor of three. “There is certainly a sort of discrepancy,” Morimoto said.

Times staff writer Jim Mann contributed to this article.