Trade Talks

WASHINGTON -- Japanese officials said yesterday that they would withdraw from trade talks with the United States on automobiles and parts if the Clinton administration threatens sanctions during the negotiations.The bleak reports from the trade talks sent the dollar down to new lows against the Japanese yen yesterday, and this morning in Japan the U.S. currency dipped below 80 yen for the first time ever. The dollar, after hitting 79.80 yen in early trading, was back at 80.45 yen by late morning after the Bank of Japan intervened to buy dollars.

TOKYO -- News of President Clinton's and Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa's failure to reach an agreement in critical trade talks landed as quietly here as the accompanying rare heavy snow.The formal breakdown in negotiations was announced between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. yesterday, after a national holiday Friday.Only one of the television networks was broadcasting at the time, and the morning papers were not printed because of the holiday. The snow closed roads and airports and derailed scheduled train departures.

PARIS -- France yesterday accepted part of an agricultural agreement between Europe and the United States that it had vowed to veto, opening the way for progress in broader, and long-stalled, world trade talks.At a meeting of European Community foreign ministers in Luxembourg, the recently installed center-right government of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur said it would drop its objection to a major point in the deal reached in Washington in November.That agreement reduced production in European Community countries of oilseed crops like soybeans, which make up much of world agriculture and are used in vegetable oils and animal feed.

France aims to block trade dealFrance threatened yesterday to block any effort at next week's summit of industrialized nations to approve a deal aimed at restarting world trade talks.French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said his country would oppose any move by world leaders at the Tokyo summit to adopt an agreement to lower tariffs on a wide range of manufactured goods and services. He also said the European Community would refuse to make any concessions in trade talks as long as the United States maintained punitive duties on European steel.

PARIS -- After 18 months of intense, often bitter negotiations, the European Community cleared the way yesterday for early resumption of stalled global trade talks by reaching broad agreement on a new European farm policy.The crucial trade-liberalization talks have been stalled for two years by disagreements between the United States and the European Community on the broad question of farming subsidies, with Washington repeatedly rebuffed in its demand that the 12 community nations reduce their agricultural protectionism.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Orioles general manager Roland Hemond loves the winter meetings. This is the arena where the front-office types get to be the gladiators, and he is still a competitor after all these years.But this is one year where he probably will be reduced to a spectator. Baseball's annual trading convention has been reduced to the mother of all owners meetings, with a series of major issues to be debated - and some of them decided - in the next four days.Will there be a labor confrontation?

WASHINGTON -- President Bush told congressional leaders yesterday that he will ask them this week to renew his special powers to negotiate an international agreement lowering trade barriers.The president's request, which also will embrace the power to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Mexico, will set the stage for a bitter battle on Capitol Hill. Organized labor and the textile industry are opposed to extending the negotiating authority, which ends Friday.White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the president "expressed his intention" to seek renewed authority for two years and "heard the concerns of the leadership."

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The last full day of the annual winter meetings was drawing to a close, and Baltimore Orioles general manager Roland Hemond was visibly disappointed.He came. He talked. He apparently struck out."The meetings create excitement. They're very enjoyable when your making trades," Hemond said. "You're always upset when you don't get things accomplished."Hemond also appeared to be angry, but he would say only that he was frustrated that weeks of trade talks with the Montreal Expos had run aground -- and not from lack of serious intent on the part of the Orioles.

WASHINGTON -- In seven rounds of global trade talks over four decades, tariff rates have been slashed by more than 75 percent. As imports became so much cheaper, trade across frontiers surged, and workers the world over produced a staggering amount of wealth.The problem for the eighth round of trade talks is precisely that success: World trade has outgrown the rules written for it.The round is scheduled to end with a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, next week, if a bitter dispute on farm subsidies can be resolved.

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A four-year round of talks to establish new rules for world trade broke off in disarray yesterday as the United States and the European Community remained deadlocked over the issue of reducing subsidies to farmers.Trade ministers had set yesterday as a deadline to reach an agreement to liberalize rules governing $4 trillion in annual world trade. The goal was an accord that could increase economic growth and living standards worldwide by removing government rules that restrict trade not only in agriculture but also in a wide range of manufactured goods, financial services and technological expertise.

The Orioles and Chicago Cubs are again involved in trade talks, this time about Cubs left-handed starting pitcher Rich Hill. According to industry sources, the teams have had talks about Hill, a one-time top prospect who is struggling to regain his command. One industry source said it's a "strong possibility" that Hill will wind up with the Orioles, perhaps as early as next week. The Orioles will likely give up a player to be named, who could be contingent on Hill's success in Baltimore.

The Orioles have revisited trade talks with the Cubs about outfielder Felix Pie, according to industry sources, and could end up as the third team in a three-way deal that would send marquee right-hander Jake Peavy from the San Diego Padres to Chicago. Pie, once considered one of the best young prospects in the game, was an Orioles target at this time last year when the two teams discussed a trade involving two-time All-Star second baseman Brian Roberts. Orioles president Andy MacPhail said yesterday that a deal is not imminent but acknowledged that Pie is the kind of player the Orioles are pursuing to broaden the club's position depth.

JUPITER, Fla. -- For three months, it appeared certain that Orioles All-Star second baseman Brian Roberts would be wearing another uniform on Opening Day of the 2008 season. However, that's no longer the case. Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail acknowledged yesterday that it's unlikely that Roberts will be traded before Monday's season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards. "I've mentioned to Brian that I think it's unlikely that something happens," said MacPhail.

Three weeks from today, pitchers and catchers will take the field at Fort Lauderdale Stadium for the Orioles' first workout of the spring. Will Erik Bedard, the team's ace, even be there? Aside from a December trade that sent star shortstop Miguel Tejada to the Houston Astros for five players, the Orioles have failed to dramatically overhaul their roster or produce many short- or long-term answers in the first offseason of Andy MacPhail's rebuilding project. They haven't settled on a shortstop or a closer, they don't have a projected everyday center fielder and they would like to add a veteran starting pitcher and a backup catcher.

WASHINGTON -- International trade talks, launched five years ago to reduce tariffs, quotas and other barriers to commerce worldwide, broke down in Geneva yesterday amid bitter recriminations between the United States and Europe. Peter Mandelson, chief trade negotiator for the European Union, charged that the United States sabotaged the talks by refusing to scale back domestic farm subsidies, which the Europeans say give American agriculture an edge in international competition. Top U.S. trade negotiator Susan Schwab countered that the European Union steadfastly refused to open its agricultural markets to foreign farmers.

GENEVA --The chances of reaching a new accord to lower trade barriers across the globe seemed more remote than ever yesterday as major World Trade Organization powers signaled their failure to make progress during two days of talks and postponed a resumption of serious discussions. "The experience of the last several days has been somewhat disheartening," said Susan C. Schwab, the U.S. trade representative. Schwab's aides said she would return to the United States today. India's trade minister, Kamal Nath, left the meeting yesterday afternoon.

The Ravens might suspend further trade talks with the Tennessee Titans, knowing there is a possibility that quarterback Steve McNair could become a free agent in a couple of weeks. A hearing between the NFL players union and the Titans is set for May 16, when an arbitrator will decide if the team breached its contract with McNair by barring him from working out at its facility. The union contends that the Titans must allow the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback into the training complex or release him. Asked about the chances that McNair could gain his release from the hearing, NFL Players Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen said: "We have to wait and see. It's possible that the arbitrator could say the Titans have the obligation to employ him while he's under contract and, if they don't wish to comply with their agreement with him, they ought to allow him to go elsewhere."

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, who lost a power struggle with Congress over a Dubai company's bid to buy into terminals at some U.S. ports, said yesterday that he is concerned that the backlash against the deal could undercut his administration's efforts to fight terrorism. "I'm concerned about a broader message this issue could send to our friends and allies around the world, particularly in the Middle East," Bush told a gathering of newspaper publishers. "In order to win the war on terror, we have got to strengthen our relationships and friendships with moderate Arab countries in the Middle East."

CLEVELAND - There is no quarterback controversy, because the Ravens have too many other offensive problems. Elvis Grbac is beginning to remind me of Vinny Testaverde. The Ravens have two running backs who belong in NFL refugee camps. They have an offensive line that plays patty-cake with defensive linemen and a scheme that hasn't worked in three years. And then there is an identity crisis. Are they a passing team or a running team? Are they a finesse squad or a team that wants to be physical?

WASHINGTON -- Despite nuclear tensions and diplomatic false starts that have dogged U.S. relations with India in recent years, the Clinton administration plans to court India as an ally in trying to restart global trade talks that collapsed in Seattle last month. The hope is that closer cooperation will help defuse the disputes between rich and poor countries that undermined the Seattle meeting. Few expect the United States and India, the world's two largest democracies, to forge a close friendship overnight.