United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union

The United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union was enacted by Jimmy Carter in January 1980 in response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. It remained in effect until Ronald Reagan ended it in 1981 upon taking the office of president. American farmers felt the brunt of the sanctions, while the Soviet Union was not affected. During the presidential election campaign of 1980, Republican nominee Ronald Reagan promised to end the embargo, while the incumbent Democratic nominee, Jimmy Carter, was not willing to do so.

The Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan was met by the United States with numerous economic sanctions including the grain embargo. In addition, the United States led a boycott of the 1980 Olympics which were hosted in Moscow.

The effect of the embargo on the Soviet Union was minimal as they were able to receive grain from other sources. These sources included most of South America such as Venezuela and Brazil. These crops were cheaper than the American grain as the labor cost was much cheaper. The Soviet Union still received grain from the United States with regard to the grain agreement in 1975 between the two countries. The agreement said that the United States was required to send 8 million tons of grain to the Soviets. The embargo was a blessing in disguise for the Soviets as they were able to see that they didn’t need the United States’ grain. Instead, they could cultivate their own in Ukraine and import the grain from South America. Even after the embargo was lifted the Soviets still relied on the grain from Ukraine and South America and reduced their interaction with the U.S.

The effects of the embargo on the United States were numerous. The embargo caused the price of grain to drop from $4.39 per bushel in January 1980 to $4 per bushel in 1981 resulting in farmers having to burn their crop to make some kind of profit from their harvest. Eventually grain ports across the country went out of business and never fully recovered even after the embargo was lifted. It also led to an agricultural credit crisis, with the United States, for the first time in its history, forced to buy grain from another country. Since the midwest was where the Soviet Union got most of its grain, stimulating the local economy, the embargo had a direct effect on the 1980 presidential election. Seeing Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer from Georgia, as one of their own, it was reasoned that most midwest people would have voted for him. However, anger at their business losses, and Reagan being the only candidate promising to end the embargo, helped the non-incumbent make a clean sweep of all midwest states. In several states farmers who were part of the farm strike movement circled their tractors around local state United States Department of Agriculture offices to protest the USDA enforcement of the embargo. With the Soviets receiving more grain from their second highest importer, Argentina, and the USSR not wishing to be affected by another grain embargo, the US was never able to sell the same amount of grain to the Soviets again. During the embargo the United States had to go to countries in East Asia, more specifically China and Japan, to find new customers for its grain. To this day most American grain exports go to East Asia.

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