CIA SPIED ON JAPAN DURING AUTO TALKS, REPORTS SAY.(BUSINESS)

Byline: Associated Press

NEW YORK During the Clinton administration's sensitive negotiations over Japanese luxury car imports, the CIA spied on talks between Japan's auto executives and trade minister, The New York Times reported in today's editions.

And U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor got a daily morning briefing on the contents of those private Japanese discussions as part of the CIA's growing role in economic spying, the paper said.

The information came from the Central Intelligence Agency's Tokyo station and the electronic-eavesdropping equipment of the National Security Agency, the Times said.

The spies gave Kantor …