Soviets Likely to Gain GATT Observer Status

The Soviet Union on Wednesday is likely to win observer status to the world trade body GATT--a first step to full membership, sources said Monday.

The decision will be made by the ruling council of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which sets rules for 90 percent of world trade.

President Bush supports moves to integrate the Soviet Union into the world economy.

Conservatives in the United States have urged Bush to confront Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev over his opposition to the independence of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. But sources said the issue was never formally raised by the United States in discussions on the application.

At one point, Washington, supported by Japan, said Moscow should wait until the current Uruguay Round of trade talks end in December before joining GATT.

But the sources said the United States and Japan have apparently signaled their readiness to drop their opposition to granting Moscow immediate observer status.

Four East European countries, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania and Hungary, are GATT members, although they are not fully integrated into the trade system.

China already has observer status. Its application for full membership was delayed by international outrage over its bloody suppression of the pro-democracy movement last June.