News In Brief

Pact signed to help US in Japan's phone market

The US and Japan signed a trade agreement Monday designed to give American companies a bigger share of Japan's $3 billion annual procurement of telephone equipment. The agreement was signed by Trade Representative Bill Brock and Japanese Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe.

Officials said the three-year agreement would make it easier for American companies to sell to Nippon Telegraph &amp; Telephone Corporation (NTT), the giant state-owned telephone monopoly.

Mr. Brock urged further talks to reverse the prohibition on selling US satellites to Japan, which wants to develop its own satellite industry. The position ''is not consistent with the intentions of both governments as indicated by the NTT agreement,'' Brock told reporters.

Mr. Abe is to return to Tokyo Thursday.

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