WORLD : Bush Vetoes Limits on Jet Deal

WASHINGTON —  President Bush vetoed legislation that sought to impose several conditions on the U.S.-negotiated deal to co-produce a new, advanced jet fighter with the Japanese, the White House said today.

The agreement, negotiated earlier this year by Bush Administration officials with representatives of the Japanese government, calls for development by General Dynamics and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of an advanced version of the F-16 fighter, named FSX, which would be deployed by Japan in the 1990s. The deal envisioned a $6-billion price tag.

Opponents of the FSX deal as negotiated by the Bush Administration said that it amounted to a giveaway of critical U.S. defense technology. But the Administration argued at the time that the restrictive legislation would tie its hands in the talks.