SEOUL ANNOUNCES MORE TARIFF CUTS FOR U.S.
  South Korea will cut import taxes on 50
  items, including construction equipment, photographic film,
  cigarettes and pipe tobacco, to help reduce its trade surplus
  with the United States, the finance ministry said.
      The tariff cuts, of between five and 30 percentage points,
  take effect on July 1.
      This brings to 157 the number of goods on which import
  taxes have been cut this year, a ministry official said.
      The 157 are among about 290 items on which Washington has
  asked Seoul to lower tariffs, he added.
      Today's announcement follows Saturday's removal of import
  curbs on 170 products. For 46 of those products, the U.S. Had
  had sought free access to the South Korean market.
      "This is in line with the government's policy to limit our
  trade surplus with the United States to help reduce trade
  friction between the two countries," the official said.
      South Korea's trade surplus with the U.S. Rose to 7.3
  billion dlrs in 1986 from 4.3 billion in 1985. Officials said
  the surplus was expected to widen further in 1987 but Seoul
  would try to hold it below eight billion dlrs.
      The finance ministry said tariffs would be cut later this
  month on a further 53 items, including acrylic yarn and
  ethylene, by an average 7.7 percentage points in order to check
  inflation.
      The officials said the tariff cuts would contribute to
  holding wholesale and consumer price rises at less than three
  pct this year.
  

