OTHER NEWS - May 15, 1993

Japan Offers Concessions on Tariffs: Japan, long accused of blocking foreign access to its markets, told trade ministers from industrial nations that it was willing to cut or eliminate tariffs on about 770 imports to help revive world trade talks. The offer came at a Toronto meeting of officials from the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Community, aimed at making progress on trade issues before a summit of industrial nations in Tokyo in July. The main goal of the meeting was to get an agreement on market access that would include lower industrial tariffs and rules for trade in such services as banking and telecommunications. Such a deal would form part of a wider package of trade measures being negotiated by 114 countries in the six-year Uruguay Round of talks being held under auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.