U.S TARGETS MASS. SANCTIONS ON BURM

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: U.S TARGETS MASS. SANCTIONS ON BURMA



Tuesday April 15 11:06 AM EDT 

U.S. targets Mass. sanctions on Burma

BOSTON, April 15 (UPI) _ U.S. trade officials face a cool reception when
they try to talk
Massachusetts out of pressing trade sanctions against Burma and Indonesia. 

The Massachusetts law, the first of its kind in the nation, bars state
agencies or authorities from
contracting with companies that do business with the military-ruled Burma. 

The state is also considering a bill to extend sanctions against Indonesia
because of the way it has
tried to quell opposition in East Timor. 

The Boston Globe reports that Rebecca Reese of the U.S. trade
representative's office and a State
Department trade official have scheduled a round of talks Tuesday with
Massachusetts officials. 

They reportedly will warn sanction supporters that the Clinton
administration believes Massachusetts
is violating international trade agreements, and are concerned that other
states may follow
Massachusetts' lead. 

Legislators who backed sanctions and representatives of Gov. William Weld,
House Speaker
Thomas Finneran and Attorney General Scott Harshbarger are expected to meet
with Reese and the
State Department official. 

The Clinton administration has come under pressure from trading partners to
bring Massachusetts
into line with the nation's foreign- policy initiatives. 

State Rep. Byron Rushing, the Boston Democrat who sponsored the Burma
sanctions bill, said his
message to the Clinton representatives is that ``they should not stand in
the way of elected
legislatures.'' 

Rushing said he has been assured that the governor also has no plans to back
down.