U.S. Will Curb Acid Rain, Bush Promises Canadians

President Bush, declaring a determination to see that the U.S.-Canadian friendship “becomes even stronger,” promised Friday that there would be speedy American action on curbing border-crossing acid rain pollution.

Bush, on his first foreign trip as President, said no specific timetable was set in talks with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on when acid rain-causing emissions from U.S. plants would be curbed.

But, he said, he is committed to “move as fast as possible” on the new initiatives he outlined Thursday in his speech to Congress.

“I have an obligation to move forward with specifics,” Bush said in an outdoor news conference with Mulroney after a “working lunch” at the prime minister’s residence.

Later, aboard Air Force One en route to Maine, Bush said that he believes that Mulroney, in their talks, “was reasonably well-satisfied” with the U.S. statements about acid rain.

“I mean, they probably are a little ahead of us in terms of where they wish we were right now in terms of bilateral negotiations. Generally speaking, there was no tension over that. . . . It was very good in that sense,” Bush added.

In Ottawa, Mulroney praised Bush’s initiative on fighting acid rain--including a promise to spend $2.5 billion toward solving the problem, vowing to propose legislation setting new limits on smokestack emissions, and negotiating an agreement with Canada on specific acid rain levels.

“This is real progress,” Mulroney said. “And while I suppose I, like a lot of people, would like it done tomorrow in this area, I know it’s not going to happen. But this represents some very measurable progress.”

Both the prime minister and the new President proclaimed relations between the two nations as good and getting better.

Bush said he selected Canada for his first presidential trip outside U.S. borders to “symbolize the importance that we place on the relationship with Canada. We’re each other’s largest trading partners. We are friends. We share a long, peaceful border and we have many common interests.”

‘Keep in Touch’

Standing with snow on the ground and U.S. and Canadian flags snapping in the breeze, Bush asserted: “We will keep in touch. And each of us is pledged to see that this strong relationship becomes even stronger.”

On another subject, Bush dismissed the importance of Friday’s report from the Labor Department that wholesale prices in January surged a full percentage point.

He said the producer price index “jumps around some. I am not overly concerned about inflation in the United States.” But, he added, he did not like the figures.

“The economy is growing and I think that’s good,” Bush said, calling Friday’s report “a blip on an otherwise calm radar screen.”

East-West Relations

Bush said he and Mulroney discussed various topics including trade and East-West relations.

He said he valued Mulroney’s advice on dealings with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Mulroney called the meeting “very encouraging.”

He fielded questions in both English and French. And at one point Bush tried to do likewise, but his high-school French didn’t take him very far.

Replies in French

Would he take a question in French? “Mais, oui” (Why, certainly), Bush said.

However, when the question was shouted out, Bush said, “Je ne comprends pas,” (I don’t understand).

Bush’s five-hour visit consisted of three events: a two-hour meeting with Mulroney at “7 Rideau Gate,” the government’s guest house; a two-hour “working lunch” in the prime minister’s residence and a shorter tea at the end of the day.

Earlier, Mulroney said, “we’re here to do a little work,” as talks with Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III began.

Shift in Attitude

Baker said later that Bush’s promise on moving to curb acid rain represents a major shift in U.S. attitude on the issue and that Mulroney recognizes this.

However, he said discussing a specific timetable at this point would be premature, given regional political feelings on the issue of cleanup costs in the United States.

Major questions still unanswered, Baker told a briefing, are: “What is the target for reductions and who is going to pay the price?”

Baker said Bush and Mulroney also discussed the President’s proposal for a one-year freeze on U.S. defense spending at the level of inflation, as well as Central America and U.S.-Soviet relations.

Speech to Congress

He called Friday’s session “primarily an agenda-setting meeting.”

Bush, in address to Congress on Thursday night, made a special pitch for fighting acid rain and talked about his $1.16 trillion fiscal 1990 budget that seeks to curb Pentagon spending while providing more for domestic programs.

This included a commitment to spend $2.5 billion in a government-industry project to find ways to reduce emissions that cause acid rain.

Bush also told Congress he would propose legislation for new federal emission curbs, saying, “The time for study alone has passed, and the time for action is now.”

Rain Kills Wildlife

The pollution is caused when contaminants from coal-burning power plants and other industrial plants are carried in the wind and mix with the rain. The rainfall kills some wildlife and damages lakes, forests and structures.

As the two leaders had lunch, about three dozen demonstrators stood outside in the snow, some carrying anti-American signs and protesting the testing of U.S. warplanes in Canadian skies. “George Bush, enemy of the peoples of the world,” one demonstrator yelled.

Earlier, Bush’s press secretary, Marlin Fitzwater, said the President believes that his address to Congress was well received.

“He was very pleased by the general reaction to it,” including the Democratic response, which Bush “felt was very constructive,” Fitzwater said. Fitzwater said Democrats appeared receptive to Bush’s proposal for early budget negotiations.

“The main thing is to sit down and start talking and see where it goes,” Fitzwater said.

After leaving Canada, Bush planned to spend the weekend at his family’s seacoast retreat at Kennebunkport, Me. No public events were scheduled.

On Monday, he makes a speech in Manchester, N.H., that aides said would focus on his new budget.