BALDRIGE SAYS JAPAN MUST OPEN ITS MARKETS Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige said the United States will not stand idly by and let Japan dominate the world electronics market. Baldrige told the Senate Finance Committee the United States would insist Japan open its markets to U.S. products as the U.S. market is open to Japanese products. Asked after his testimony if this meant the United States would close its markets to Japan if they did not open theirs, Baldrige said, "I'm not prepared to say that, but it certainly would be one of the alternatives studied." Baldrige said in his testimony Japan had a closed supercomputer market and a restricted telecommunications market. "I can only conclude that the common objective of the Japanese government and industry is to dominate the world electronics market. Given the importance of this market to U.S. industry in general and our defense base in particular, we cannot stand by idly," he said. He said it was these concerns about national security which led him to express reservations over the proposed acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor by Fujitsu of Japan.