Reagan Warns Congress on Protectionism

President Reagan warned the U.S. Congress in his weekly radio address against passing what he called dangerous, protectionist trade legislation that would tie his hands in trade negotiations with Japan and other countries.

Reagan, who will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone here this week, said he would lift tariffs imposed last week against some Japanese products as soon as Tokyo complied with a U.S.-Japanese pact on semiconductors.

U.S. officials gave the same message to former Japanese Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe in talks here last week.

In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Reagan said he would tell Nakasone: “We want to continue to work cooperatively on trade problems and want very much to lift these trade restrictions as soon as evidence permits.

Reagan said the 100 pct tariffs he imposed on some 300 mln dlrs worth of Japanese goods was a special case of trade retaliation and did not signal a shift in what he called his staunch anti-protectionist policies.

“In imposing these tariffs we were just trying to deal with a particular problem, not begin a trade war,” he said.