Last summer, Mr. Bush signed legislation that barred imports from Myanmar to pressure that country's military dictatorship to take steps toward democracy.

Mr. Rabin wants to countermand that ruling through legislation specifically barring such imports.

The 1984 law barred imports of a wide range of computer products and restricted foreign manufacturers from producing computers here.

The United States has barred imports of Libyan oil since 1982, but that embargo has had only a marginal effect.

The talks reportedly center on barring imports of Chinese arms and ammunition.

In 1930, Congress enacted a law that barred imports of goods made by forced, indentured convict labor conducted "under penal sanctions."

The Russian Government said last month that it would bar imports of American poultry beginning March 16 because of concerns about safety.

Mr. Bush has barred imports of assault weapons but refused to ban domestic models.

At the start of this year it extended the directive, barring imports of meat with hormones.

In a setback for the world environmental movement, an international trade panel has ruled that environmental concerns about a foreign industry cannot be a factor in barring imports.