81.   But the trade minister reportedly hinted Sunday that Japan was ready to make a compromise if Washington withdrew its demands for numerical targets and its threat of unilateral sanctions.

82.   But the new Japanese administration refused to accept the US call for numerical targets to measure progress, saying this smacked of managed trade and quotas.

83.   But the then Japanese prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa told President Bill Clinton in February that Japan could not accept numerical targets.

84.   Critics of the US-Japan automotive agreement argue it cannot be enforced because it contains no numerical targets.

85.   During high-level talks in Washington last week, Japan rejected US proposals to set numerical targets as a way of assuring foreign manufacturers a share of the Japanese market.

86.   During high-level talks in Washington last week, Japan rejected US proposals to set numerical targets as a way of ensuring foreign manufacturers a share of the Japanese market.

87.   The US Trade Representative office has offered in February to renew the pact without seeking a numerical target.

88.   The wide-ranging talks with the United States were launched in July last year but collapsed in February over the issues of numerical targets.

89.   The trade talks were suspended in February after Japan refused to accept the principle of numerical targets to measure progress in opening its market to foreign goods and services.

90.   The sticking-point in solving the dispute is a demand by Washington for numerical targets to gauge the openness of Japanese markets.