Soviet official seeks U.S. technology

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 6

Soviet official seeks U.S. technology

NZPA-Reuter Washington A top aide to the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, in talks with President Reagan and other American officials yesterday, called for an end to curbs on Soviet imports and sought advanced United States farm technology. “We intend to trade with you but only on a mutually beneficial basis,” Viktor Nikonov, Soviet Secretary for agriculture, told reporters after a White House meeting with Mr Reagan. United States experts on the Soviet Union believe Mr Nikonov is touring the United States now as a dress rehearsal for a visit later this year by Mr Gorbachev.

Mr Nikonov also met the United States Agriculture Secretary, Richard Lyng, Trade Representative, Clayton Yeutter, and acting Commerce Secretary, Bruce Smart. The Soviet official, a Politburo member who is said to be a close associate of Mr Gorbachev, complained about what he called one-sided trade with the United States. The United States posted a trade surplus of $690 million with the Soviet Union in 1986 and the surplus was more than two billion dollars in 1985, mainly because of United States grain sales to Russia. Mr Nikonov said that while the United States asks Moscow to buy more grain, it restricts imports

of Soviet goods such as furs and processed products. Among American curbs on Soviet products are a ban on the import of fur skins, and large duties on Soviet shipments of urea fertiliser imposed after an official finding that Moscow was dumping fertiliser on the American market. While Mr Nikonov urged the United States to buy more Soviet goods, he did not raise the sensitive issue of the United States grain agreement with Moscow which expires next year, officials said. Mr Lyng said it is still too early to begin formal talks on the grain agreement. Mr Lyng said Mr Nikonov emphasised Moscow’s need for the latest farm technology to help Mr Gorbachev’s farm reform plan. _____