Quayle Denies Any Linkage Between Trade Talks and NATO

Vice President Dan Quayle called Tuesday for an agreement to end a tariff dispute between Americans and Europeans but declared that it would be “disastrous” to replace the successfully ended Cold War with trade battles between the United States and Europe.

Quayle also sought to dispel the European unease generated by widespread reports that he and a group of senators over the weekend had suggested that America might lose interest in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization if the current negotiations in Geneva on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade were not concluded to U.S. satisfaction.

“There is absolutely no linkage between the level of troops in Europe and the GATT negotiations,” he told reporters. “There is a linkage between economic security and military security and it is important that the economic security issue be addressed.”

In Washington, President Bush also affirmed this position Tuesday. Asked during a photo session in the Oval Office at the start of a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel about such concerns in Europe, Bush said: “There is no linkage at all. It is important that we get a GATT agreement.

“Secondly, without setting priorities, it is important that we retain a strong presence in NATO in Europe,” Bush said. But, he added, the two issues are not intertwined.

“There has been some confusion about it,” Bush said. “I want a successful conclusion of this GATT round, and we’re going to press . . . to get that, and I want a strong U.S. commitment to NATO.”

As for troop cuts, he said: “We’ve set the proper level and we’re going to stay with the level that we have set.”

In London, Quayle spoke on a range of issues in interviews Tuesday with British radio and television and American correspondents. He emphasized the need for cooperation between America and Europe, saying, for example, that in the event of a trade war--which could occur if the GATT talks break down over the knotty issue of farm subsidies--the “United States would lose, Europe would lose, Asia would lose and the undeveloped countries would be devastated. . . .

“We need open trade, we need free trade, we need to conclude the GATT negotiations, we need to reduce the subsidies,” Quayle said, adding that both Europeans and Americans must make concessions to reach an accord.

Times staff writer James Gerstenzang in Washington contributed to this report.