31.   Japanese steel company officials and industry representatives were not available for comment Saturday.

32.   Last week, U.S. President Bill Clinton submitted to Congress a report on Japanese steel exports and made a speech threatening a quota.

33.   Mounting sales of Japanese steel in the United States have fanned U.S.-Japan trade tensions and led to threats of trade penalties against Tokyo unless the exports dropped.

34.   Negotiations have intensified this month following settlement in December of coking coal prices between Japanese steel mills and Australian exporters.

35.   Rawlins said that Japanese steel mills lost their price setting power because negotiations in Europe concluded before those in Japan for the first time.

36.   Rejecting a U.S. appeal, a World Trade Organization panel upheld a ruling that the United States had acted illegally in increasing duties on Japanese steel imports.

37.   Such a filing could prompt Washington to impose tough quotas on Japanese steel imports to the United States.

38.   The MITI official said Aaron acknowledged Japanese steel exports have been falling drastically this year.

39.   The United States and Japan have been embroiled in a number of heated trade disputes including alleged Japanese steel dumping into U.S. markets.

40.   The U.S. warning comes days after President Clinton submitted to Congress a report on Japanese steel exports and made a speech threatening a quota.