Bush Eases High-Tech Trade Rules : Exports: Some barriers are lifted on supercomputers and other sensitive goods for shipment to Europe and Japan.

WASHINGTON —  President Bush moved Thursday to end some restrictions on the export of supercomputers and other sensitive items to Europe and Japan as he sought anew to link foreign policy progress with future economic growth.

Bush ordered the lifting of the barriers during a sweeping speech designed to give new prominence to the free-trade agenda that he has claimed as one of the pillars of his reelection bid.

Bush said that the move effectively would deregulate about $2.5 billion a year in U.S. high-technology trade that until now has been subject to the most stringent limits because of national security concerns.

Under the directive, which could be amended after a period of public comment, U.S. manufacturers for the first time could export supercomputers to the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and seven other nations without first obtaining an individual license for each computer. Instead, they could send bulk shipments under a single license.

In an evening speech to the Council of the Americas, Bush said the move had been made possible by “the changed strategic environment and the peaceful rebirth of freedom in the formerly communist lands.”

“We relaxed trade restrictions on exports that served us well during the Cold War era but are no longer necessary in our new world,” Bush said.

The restrictions had been in place since shortly after World War II and grew out of concern that exports of sensitive goods even to staunch allies could find their way into the hands of U.S. adversaries.

The Commerce Department said the order, which is to take effect immediately, affects about 95% of previously restricted products. Among the high-tech goods no longer subject to restrictions when shipped to U.S. allies are semiconductor manufacturing equipment, submersible vehicles and certain aircraft.

Some restrictions will remain on supercomputers and other products with sensitive military applications.

The announcement by Bush of what was officially a Commerce Department initiative came during a week in which the White House has given unrelenting attention to the kinds of trade issues that Presidents usually disdain.

At the White House earlier in the day, Bush convened a ceremony in which U.S. and Japanese officials signed an agreement widening access to Japan’s $27-billion paper market for foreign producers.

The agreement requires the Japanese government to encourage Japanese paper distributors and major corporate users to adopt purchasing guidelines equally applicable to domestic and foreign suppliers. Japan now imports just 3.7% of its paper and paperboard products, and the U.S. share is less than half of that.

The outlines of the five-year pact were drafted during the President’s trip to Japan earlier this year. That mission has been widely criticized for its lack of achievement, and Bush sought again during the ceremony to repair its public perception.

Bush called the agreement a milestone for both nations and “an important, positive development stemming from our January trip to Japan.”

The effort by the White House to put a positive light on relatively narrow trade issues came a day after Bush and top European Community officials failed to resolve disputes blocking a far more significant 100-nation agreement.

With experts fearful that an accord on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade may now be out of reach, the announcements on high-tech trade and paper offered the White House a chance to make new claims of progress on what is regarded as a crucial campaign issue.

In his address, Bush pledged to “take the case for increased trade to the people in every corner of the United States.” He also sought to squelch persistent rumblings that his Administration had effectively abandoned its pursuit of a North American free trade agreement with Mexico because of election-year concerns.

“Those voices are not speaking for me,” he said.