BRIEFING / WINDING UP THE VISIT : Underlying Theme of Gorbachev Trip: Trade

Wrapping up his meetings with President Bush at a joint press conference, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev heads west today for the first tour of the United States by a Soviet leader since Nikita S. Khrushchev tramped through Iowa cornfields 31 years ago.

The Gorbachev tour, with stops scheduled in Minneapolis and San Francisco, has one underlying theme: trade. That reflects the Soviet leader’s single most urgent problem: a collapsing economy that threatens both his own political base and the stability of the entire country.

In Minneapolis, Gorbachev will meet with Midwestern business leaders, particularly those involved in the grain trade. In San Francisco, he will deliver a speech to West Coast business people, including several from California’s high-tech economy.

In between speeches to people who might be able to help the moribund Soviet economy, Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, will take in a bit of Americana--visiting a “typical” American family in Minneapolis, stopping by a farm outside the city and making a tour of San Francisco on Monday.

The Minnesota Trip

Gorbachev will leave Washington at around noon, shortly after finishing what is scheduled to be an hourlong press conference with Bush. After an arrival ceremony and a luncheon with Gov. Rudy Perpich, Gorbachev is to speak to business and agricultural officials.

The list of agriculture-related organizations whose chiefs will be present could serve as an index of things Americans have that Soviet citizens do not: General Mills and Kellogg, Sara Lee Corp. and Pillsbury Co., associations of milk producers, soybean growers, sugar beet and corn farmers, pork producers and turkey growers, the Cattlemen’s Assn. and Dairy Queen.

Representatives of Deere and Co. and Caterpillar Inc. will be there, along with Cargill, the giant grain trading firm, and Ralston Purina. So, too, will be top executives from the area’s burgeoning technology firms, such as 3M Co. and Control Data, whose plant Gorbachev will visit.

In all, Gorbachev will be in the Twin Cities for about six hours before flying on to San Francisco, where he will arrive tonight.

San Francisco Stop

For Gorbachev, the most important part of his visit in San Francisco probably will be a meeting at the end of the day Monday with South Korean President Roh Tae Woo. Before that, however, he is scheduled to make two speeches: one at Stanford, another to business leaders at a downtown hotel luncheon. He will also tour both the city and the Stanford campus.

As might be expected in San Francisco, the lunchtime meal for Gorbachev and the business leaders will be lavish.

Chefs at the Fairmont Hotel plan to serve hors d’oeuvres of smoked salmon on pumpernickel and Dungeness crab legs on endive; appetizers of lobster medallions with greens and butterflied salmon with vinaigrette dressing; and for the main course, roast rack of Sonoma baby lamb with pinot noir sauce and vegetables and new potatoes.

Gorbachev, who launched an anti-alcoholism campaign shortly after he took power, seldom drinks in public. But in case he breaks that rule, he will have a Robert Mondavi 1987 private reserve pinot noir, a Raymond 1987 private reserve chardonnay and an Iron Horse champagne to choose from.

Dessert will be chocolate tulips with berries and a 1987 Schramsberg champagne.

After meeting with Roh, his American visit over, Gorbachev will head home--to grapple with, among other things, consumer shortages.

SUPERPOWER TRADE: Food, Furs and Fertilizer

1984: Soviet exports to U.S.: 554 U.S. exports to Soviet Union: 3,284

1985: Soviet exports to U.S.: 409 U.S. exports to Soviet Union: 2,423

1986: Soviet exports to U.S.: 558 U.S. exports to Soviet Union: 1,248

1987: Soviet exports to U.S.: 424 U.S. exports to Soviet Union: 1,480

1988: Soviet exports to U.S.: 578 U.S. exports to Soviet Union: 2,768

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce