Moscow Mission

Drumming up Soviet trade

Vodka and good feeling flowed the last time an entourage from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Trade and Economic Council, composed of high-powered American businessmen, met with Soviet leaders in Moscow. That was in 1978, before crises in Afghanistan and Poland chilled East-West relations and put an end to the group's Moscow trips. But last week the eight-year-old organization, whose 210-member roster includes such capitalist colossi as Xerox Corp. and RCA Corp., revealed that it is heading back on another trade-promotion trip Nov. 16. Says Michael Forrestal, a past council president: "U.S. executives generally feel that it is wise for the two largest industrial countries to maintain trade relations."

Members of the group, which maintains offices in New York and Moscow, have been battered by both the recession and trade sanctions. A French subsidiary of one member, Dresser Industries, was penalized for delivering giant compressors for the Euro-Soviet pipeline. Caterpillar Tractor Co., another member, lost millions of dollars in orders.

Washington is officially saying little about the trip, during which the 200 American delegates may attend a dinner with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev. Delegates are fully aware, however, that they must avoid running afoul of the U.S. ban on the sale of certain high-technology products as well as those related to the pipeline. The purpose of the two-day visit, says Council Spokesman William Forrester, will be to "seek ways of expanding permissible trade." That leaves the door open for a vast array of products ranging from spark plugs to fertilizer.

European businessmen, many of whom deeply resent U.S. demands that they stop selling the Soviets pipeline equipment produced under American licenses, were philosophical. Says a European Community official: "I'm not surprised by the trip. There are lots of people in the U.S. who want to do business as usual with Moscow, just as there are in Europe."

The Soviets' hunger for foodstuffs and farm equipment should dominate the sessions. The U.S. delegation is heavy with firms in businesses related to agriculture, such as Cargill, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and International Harvester Co. Says Alfred Murrer, a council director and chairman of the Gleason Works in Rochester, N.Y., a leading machine-tool maker: "We're the only country that can help them solve their farm problems."

Last week American officials confirmed in talks with the Soviets in Vienna that the U.S. stands ready to sell them a whopping 23 million metric tons of grain in the current fiscal year. Moscow bought 13.7 million tons during fiscal 1982.

Grain sales helped push U.S. exports to the Soviet Union to $2.4 billion in 1981, up from $1.5 billion the year before. Although East-West relations have been bitterly strained, business has a way of getting done.

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