Tokyo keeps trade card close to chest

MARRAKESH (Reuter) - The Japanese Foreign Minister, Tsutomo Hata, who is tipped to become the next prime minister, said yesterday he would not make any new proposals to break a logjam in US- Japan trade talks during meetings in Morocco this week.

But Mr Hata, visiting Marrakesh to sign a Gatt trade liberalisation treaty today, emphasised that Japan was determined to open up to foreign goods and deregulate its markets, despite some strong opposition. In the highest-level US-Japan contacts since a February summit ended in stalemate over Tokyo's huge trade surplus, Mr Hata was to meet the US Vice-President, Al Gore, yesterday and the US Trade Representative, Mickey Kantor, this morning.

Asked if he planned any new trade proposal for the United States, Mr Hata said: 'It is not good to have concrete talks at a time when we are facing a change in the cabinet. However, it is important to tell them that I am certain that there will be no change in the Japanese policy (to continue liberalisation), no matter who becomes the next prime minister.'

On his arrival late on Wednesday, Mr Hata said he would like to wrap up the bilateral talks aimed at slashing Japan's dollars 130bn ( pounds 88bn) trade surplus by July when the Group of Seven leading industrial ised countries hold their next summit in Naples. Mr Hata spoke to reporters at the palm-fringed pool of his hotel before a meeting with the European Trade Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittan, and after a breakfast with his former masseuse, Masae Tanaka, who now works for King Hassan and the Moroccan royal family.

Mr Kantor, who has vowed to keep up pressure on Japan, said yesterday he was sure they would have a full and productive discussion: 'There's no more important bilateral relationship than with Japan,' he said.