TOKYO, May 13: The Japanese government said on Monday it will announce plans to retaliate against US steel tariffs at the end of the week if its pleas for compensation and annulment of the heavy duties go unanswered.

A government official said that Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma will wait until the last minute for US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to agree to compensation before notifying the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of retaliatory measures.

But talks between Tokyo and Washington earlier this month failed to yield any agreements, and few expect a major breakthrough in telephone talks between Hiranuma and Zoellick planned some time this week.

If there is no response we will notify the WTO on May 17, the official said, adding that several cabinet ministers had met earlier on Monday and expressed support for Hiranuma’s plans.

Friday is the deadline for Japan to submit a list of retaliatory measures. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is contemplating various combinations of US steel products on which to impose the tariffs.

Negotiations have stalled between Washington and steel exporters — such as Japan, the European Union and South Korea — which have been fuming over President George W. Bush’s decision to impose tariffs of up to 30 percent on steel imports to protect domestic manufacturers.

While emergency safeguard measures are allowed under WTO rules, Tokyo took issue with Washington’s decision to include steel “plates”, U.S. imports of which had halved in the five years to 2000, in the items that would be affected.

The retaliatory tariffs were to be roughly equivalent to the tariffs imposed on Japanese exports of plates to the United States. The exports amounted to 951,000 tons in 2000.

Hiranuma and Zoellick were originally scheduled to discuss the issue in Paris on the sidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) annual ministerial council conference from Wednesday but Zoellick could no longer attend the meeting as planned, Japanese officials said.—Reuters