Business Notes DIPLOMACY

The New York Times Magazine once described U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills as a "persistent, fiercely competitive, sometimes thin-skinned workaholic." Tough words for a tough woman. Yet as a leading Japanese politician would have it, Hills is more cute than competitive. Koko Sato, deputy secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, sat next to Hills for more than two hours during a dinner party at the recent Houston economic summit. Sato, 62, told friends he found Hills, 56, "easy to deal with if you lull her with the Oriental way of life and philosophy." He later described Hills to reporters as "charming and cute, just getting on a bit in age." Sato also noted that when he praised her husband, Hills was all smiles. "She is quite feminine," he said.

Hills refused to comment on Sato's remarks, but her staff noted that she is known as the Velvet Crowbar.