Word: grains
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...Canada, the European Community and Australia. Result: the embargo was almost ineffective and cut the U.S. out of sales just when Soviet demands were surging. During the past twelve months those sources supplied 80% of Moscow's import needs. Before the embargo, the U.S. provided 70% of Soviet grain imports...
...sold only the required 6 million tons. The impact of the smaller sales was made worse by the global recession and the debt problems of customers for U.S. agricultural products in the Third World. The strong dollar also made it more difficult for foreigners to buy American grain and encouraged competition from other producers. As a result of all those troubles, the U.S. is expected to export $34.5 billion worth of farm goods this year, a drop of more than 20% in two years...
...Awash in grain, Washington began the Payment In Kind program to cut down on the huge surpluses by encouraging farmers not to plant. PIK has reduced the oversupply of some crops, and wheat output is expected to drop from 76.4 million tons to 66.3 million tons this year. But wheat stocks are nonetheless expected to rise, even with fewer acres planted...
...back as the 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan pledged to keep international politics out of the grain trade. It was a hard promise to fulfill. Under pressure from U.S. farmers, he removed the partial embargo in April 1981. But that December, the White House saw the imposition of martial law in Poland as reason enough to bar grain negotiations with the Soviets. This April, though martial law was still in effect, the President gave the green light to begin the negotiations that resulted in the grain deal. Last week's successful talks coincided with another sign that Washington is ready...
...grain agreement comes when the Soviet Union is enjoying a rare good harvest. The Agriculture Department forecasts a healthy Soviet grain crop of 200 million tons this year, short of Moscow's hoped-for 239 million tons but still the best since 1978. That will reduce the Soviets' grain-import needs for the next twelve months to 30 million tons, from a peak of 46 million tons two years...