P.M. BRIEFING : Yeutter to Begin Asian Tour

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Clayton K. Yeutter will spend two weeks in meetings with agricultural leaders of four Asian nations, including time in Japan to urge it to open its markets to U.S. rice, it was announced today.

The trip to Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan will be devoted to discussions of world trade reform, the new farm policy law being written by Congress and other agricultural issues.

Yeutter leaves Thursday for Japan to begin the tour. The U.S. rice industry gave him two symbolic bags of rice to carry on the trip to the island nation that bars virtually all imports of foreign rice.

Asia buys 40% of U.S. agricultural exports. Japan is the No. 1 customer for U.S. farm goods and is forecast to buy $8.3 billion worth of them this fiscal year.