Made in America

They call each other Ron-san and Yasu. That is only fitting, since Ronald Reagan and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone describe each other as good friends. So when they met for the fifth time, at the sleek Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles last week, their wide-ranging talks were amicable, leading to what Nakasone described as "complete agreement on all issues." Actually, the two leaders were able to reach only a vague accord on the stickiest issue of all: what the Japanese call boeki masatsu, or trade friction, and what American manufacturers call by less euphemistic epithets.

Traditional Japanese hospitality has never extended to manufactured products from other countries. American executives point out that the Japanese have created elaborate trade barriers that make their markets difficult to penetrate with imports other than raw materials. Partly as a result, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan has increased from $20 billion in 1983 to an estimated $35 billion for 1984. Says Lionel Olmer, Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade: "Our complaint has been that their system is not as open to our goods as our system is open to their goods." Trade specialists within the Administration counseled the President to "get tough" with the Japanese by demanding specific commitments to increase purchases of foreign- made finished products.

During the 2 1/2-hour meeting, the President made no such demands and did not raise the question of whether Japan would renew the "voluntary" restraint agreement on auto exports due to expire in March. But he stressed that Japan should open its markets in areas where the U.S. is particularly competitive, notably telecommunications, electronics, forest products and medical supplies. Nakasone replied that he was "keenly aware" of U.S. "frustration" and promised personally to "step in and deal with specific problems." He displayed a reassuring grasp of details: when American officials cited the dialysis machine as an example of products being kept out of the Japanese market, Nakasone surprised those present by knowing all about the device and the obstacles to its import.

The meeting ended with an agreement for further high-level talks to be overseen by Secretary of State George Shultz and his Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe. While these steps may not be able to alleviate the boeki masatsu, the genial summit may at least help reduce domestic political pressures on both Reagan and Nakasone.