Inside Report (2)

Brazil is launching a trade offensive in the Far East but has run into stiff competition from -- you guessed it -- Japan. Brazil is counting on its newfound Asian markets to spur overall exports to $ 26 billion this year -- about 30 percent more than 1980. It will sell $800 milion worth of goods to Asian countries other than Japan in 1981. Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima, chief of trade promotion for the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, says this "is only a sample of what the future can bring." Brazil is finding Asians receptive to a wide range of its exports: Volkswagens, soft drinks, armaments, technology.

Meanwhile, the Japanese seem determined to hold onto their Asian markets. Brazilians are finding the Japanese willing to undercut Brazillian prices to keep their market share.m