Put Up or Else

By Janice Castro

Blunt talk on trade marked a private meeting between Dan Quayle and Kiichi Miyazawa during the Japanese Prime Minister's visit to Washington last week. The Vice President brought up the troubled U.S.-JAPAN BUSINESS COUNCIL, which has been holding talks aimed at lowering trade barriers. Prospects looked good after President Bush visited Japan in January. But progress stalled last month when Japanese members abruptly denied that problems exist. Snapped a Japanese CEO to his U.S. counterparts: "You just aren't competitive." The seething Americans threatened to quit the council. After Quayle complained at length over breakfast with Miyazawa last Thursday, the Japanese Prime Minister told an aide, "I want this solved." American executives say unless they see some progress in the next round of talks, which start this weekend in Tokyo, they will call for retaliatory action against Japan.