1973 United States–Soviet Union wheat deal

[11] In early July 1972, the U.S. government negotiated an arrangement that allowed the Soviets to buy up to $750 million of American grain on credit, over a three-year timespan.

[13] By September 1972, the Soviets are thought to have spent up to US$1 billion on grain from companies in the United States, and more from other countries such as France, Canada, and Australia.

[14] The U.S. government spent $300 million subsidizing the grain purchases,[15] still unaware that the Soviets had suffered massive crop shortfalls in 1971 and 1972.

One reason the government did not realize the impact the deal would have is that many officials, such as Earl Butz, were convinced that the Soviets were purchasing the grain only to feed their livestock.

[16] By not realizing that global wheat stocks were low, and discounting reports of Soviet crop failure, the United States inadvertently contributed to domestic food prices rising, using public funds to do so.

If the satellite had launched a few months earlier, the deal may have been reconsidered or never have happened at all, because American negotiators could have realized the scale of Soviet crop failures.