U.S.-East Bloc Talks Target High-Tech Exports to Soviets

WASHINGTON — The United States has started talks with Poland and Hungary on preventing diversion of U.S. high-technology exports to the Soviet Union, Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher said Sunday.

Mosbacher’s remarks came a day after President Bush signaled that his Administration is ready to consider relaxing of export controls involving Warsaw Pact nations.

Mosbacher, appearing on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” program, was asked about a pending request by the Control Data Corp. to sell several high-powered computers to the Soviet Union.

He responded that “we’ll have to look at each item on a case-by-case basis.”

“We released middle technology, and we’re going to look to see whether it should go higher than that,” Mosbacher said. “Eastern European countries, yes; the Soviet Union, we’d have to be very careful.”