No Ford in Russia's Future

When Henry Ford II was feted in Moscow last month, and invited to help build a Soviet truck plant, one unknown factor was what the Nixon Administration's ultimate attitude would be. Last week Defense Secretary Melvin Laird delivered a blunt answer: "I am against exporting American technology to the Soviet Union while they are sending trucks to North Vietnam." Ford had already rejected a similar Laird comment as "not only highly misleading, but also a gratuitous attack upon my common sense and patriotism." Last week, however, at the company's annual meeting, he unhappily bowed to the Administration and announced that the deal was off. Ford is still considering "other Soviet proposals for technical cooperation"--presumably on less sensitive matters than trucks.

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