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Hashimoto, Clinton don't see eye-to-eye on trade

TOKYO: U.S. President Bill Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto discussed trade issues at their bilateral talks on Wednesday and "did not see eye-to-eye", a senior White House official said.

Sandy Kristoff, an Asian expert on the National Security Council, told reporters the two leaders agreed they had a good system for addressing problems and both sides needed to attempt to make more progress in the disputed area of semiconductors, insurance and photo film.

Clinton and Hashimoto had held a bilateral meeting earlier on Wednesday, the second day of Clinton's three-day state visit to Japan.

Kristoff said both Clinton and Hashimoto had commented on the importance of industry-to-industry discussions.

The key bilateral trade disputes Washington wants settled now are over a 1994 pact on access to Japan's insurance market, a U.S. demand to roll over a five-year agreement on microchip trade which expires in July, and Eastman Kodak Co's EK.N complaints about unfair treatment in Japan's consumer photo film market.

Clinton on Wednesday expressed the U.S. position that Washington expected Japan to "live up to its agreement on semiconductors", Kristoff said.

She said both leaders recognised that their positions on the photographic film dispute were "far apart", but that they agreed to work on it.

Meanwhile, Clinton and Hashimoto acknowledged that the two nations have their differences on the interpretation of a bilateral civil aviation accord, but expressed hope that this issue could be resolved, Kristoff said.-Reuter