7 U.S. Firms Will Produce, Sell Goods in Soviet Union

MOSCOW —  Seven major U.S. companies said today that they have joined forces with the Soviets to produce everything from crackers to computer disks in a consortium that will market capitalist products in a socialist economy.

In addition, U.S. industrialist Armand Hammer announced a joint venture under which he will build two plastics factories in the Ukraine.

U.S. Commerce Secretary C. William Verity and a group of about 400 American business leaders are in Moscow this week for meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and other officials about the possibility of expanding trade between the superpowers.

Broader Cooperation Seen

Several agreements have already been announced, and the businessmen say the climate for broader cooperation has warmed considerably in recent months.

James H. Giffen, president of the new American Trade Consortium involving the seven companies, said this week’s activity could lead to an unprecedented volume of U.S.-Soviet trade.

Giffen attributed the trade successes to “the improved political atmosphere” after Gorbachev’s visit to the United States in December.

The Soviets are actively seeking joint business projects with capitalist countries to help improve the quantity and quality of consumer goods and to earn convertible foreign currencies to pay for grain and other imports.

Few U.S. companies had been able to put together joint ventures. While there is huge demand among Soviets for consumer goods and services, they have only rubles to spend, which cannot be converted by the Western businesses seeking to take home their profits.

But on Monday, Honeywell Inc. announced a joint venture to supply automated production controls for Soviet fertilizer factories, and on Tuesday Roma Food Enterprises of Piscataway, N.J., began selling pizza in Moscow.

Hammer’s $200-million plastics plant deal was the second joint venture he has announced recently, and the companies forming the new consortium claim that their efforts will result in a network of projects to make goods for both Soviet and foreign markets.

‘We’re After ... Profit’

“This is not aid, this is trade,” Giffen said. “What we’re after is profit.”

RJR Nabisco Vice Chairman Robert J. Carbonell said his company is negotiating with the Kremlin to produce cookies and crackers, breakfast cereals and cigarettes in the Soviet Union, and Ford Motor Vice President Alexander J. Trotman said his company is talking about producing cars, light trucks and parts in Soviet plants.

By forming a consortium, the businesses are effectively matching the Soviet bureaucracy, which groups various government industries and agencies to put together joint ventures with foreign firms.