Japan is preparing to call on members of the World Trade Organization to scrap tariffs on various industrial goods as part of its proposals to spur a new round of global trade talks on cutting tariffs on nonfarm products, government sources said Friday.

Tokyo plans to submit the proposals by the end of this month so they can be taken up during market-access negotiations taking place under the three-year WTO round launched in Doha, Qatar, in November.

The talks have stalled due to resistance from some member developing nations over issues such as setting next March as the deadline for deciding the overall tariff reduction targets.

According to a draft outline of the proposals obtained by Kyodo News, Japan plans to call on other members to follow its lead in scrapping tariffs on products that include electric appliances, automobiles, ceramics, cameras and watches.

It will also call on developing countries to cut their generally high tariff rates by setting targets and to increase the scope of items over which they offer tariff concessions.

The average tariff rate for Southeast Asian nations is 20 percent to 30 percent, while that for Japan is 1.7 percent and that for other industrial economies is 3 percent to 4 percent.

Southeast Asian nations have made concessions on 70 percent of their nonfarm tariffs, while those by industrial nations reach almost 100 percent.

It will also urge the United States to first bring its textile tariffs of around 20 percent in line with those of Japan, which are around 10 percent, so that developing nations can export more textiles.

In the draft, Japan proposes that the tariff cuts be gradually implemented by 2010, after an agreement is reached in 2005.

But developing and least-developed countries should be given preferential treatment in terms of both the implementation deadline and the extent of the cuts, the draft says.

The draft also says market access should be expanded for environmentally friendly goods, including antipollution machinery.

But it adds that measures to block market access should be taken if trade has adverse effects on the global environment and the sustainable use of finite natural resources.

Shifting rivals

Most Japanese companies with operational bases elsewhere in Asia say their current main rivals are Japanese affiliates, but they believe Chinese and other Asian firms will grow into rivals in the next few years, a research institute said Friday.

Of the 200 companies polled by Fuji Research Institute, 39.8 percent said Japanese units are their current rivals, while 16.2 percent said U.S. and European firms are a threat, but only 29.4 percent of the firms polled expect Japanese firms to remain their rivals over the next few years and just 13.5 percent say likewise about U.S. and European firms.

In contrast, 11.5 percent of the firms see Chinese companies as their main rivals, but this figure is expected to grow to 22.9 percent. Those that see other Asian firms as their biggest rivals, now at 15.2 percent, are expected to reach 19.2 percent, both outpacing the predicted rivalry with U.S. and European companies.

"In the Asian market, Japanese and Chinese/other Asian companies have so far coexisted by focusing on different segments in terms of price and quality, but this structure is rapidly changing," the institute said.

It attributed the change to the growing capacity of Chinese and other Asian companies to launch marketing and brand strategies.