The minister of international trade and industry expressed readiness Tuesday to hold bilateral steel talks with the United States, noting that Japan will take the opportunity to address Washington's overuse of antidumping measures.

"We are willing to participate in the talks and express our concerns over their abusive use of antidumping measures," MITI chief Kaoru Yosano told a regular news conference, referring to the U.S. proposal to launch official bilateral talks on the steel dispute.

The U.S. steel industry has filed a number of antidumping charges with the U.S. government, alleging cheap steel imports from Japan and other countries are hurting the industry.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has sent a letter to the Trade Ministry, proposing official bilateral talks to resolve the ongoing dispute over Japanese steel exports to the U.S.

The administration of President Bill Clinton has also pledged to create a world conference on the problem.

Japanese trade officials said Washington wants to address worldwide overcapacity of steel production at the multilateral conference.

Yosano, however, reiterated that such talks must not lead to managed trade practices such as import and export restrictions.

He stressed that the bilateral dialogue should not take up the issue of production adjustment, which, he said, is fit for multilateral dialogue.