Federal Panel Postpones Japan Shipping Ban

The Federal Maritime Commission decided to postpone a threatened ban on Japanese shipping in U.S. harbors and give U.S. and Japanese negotiators time to finalize an agreement to overhaul the Japanese port system. The independent commission threatened to impose the ban after the three major Japanese shipping companies missed a deadline last week to pay a $4-million penalty imposed in the bilateral dispute. Top U.S. and Japanese officials said they were close to finalizing the agreement, which is aimed at removing time-consuming and costly regulations that make Japan’s ports among the most expensive in the world.