U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz said it was up to the Agriculture Department to decide whether to offer subsidized wheat to the Soviet Union. Shultz told the Newspaper Farm Editors of America that a wheat bonus offer to the Soviet Union is something that I basically leave to the Agriculture Department to figure out. Last year Shultz spoke out against President Reagans decision to offer subsidized U.S. wheat to the Soviet Union -- an offer Moscow spurned. Ive always been a little put off by the idea that we would arrange our food supplies so as to price them in such a way that the Soviet housewife could buy American-produced food for less than the American housewife could buy it Shultz said. It also seems to me that if we are going to sell in world markets we have to meet the price he added. Shultz called proposals to broaden the eligibility criteria of USDAs export enhancement program (EEP) to include all U.S. customers questionable. An across-the-board EEP would mark a considerable change in the current program which Shultz said is designed to say to other countries that subsidize particularly the European Common Market that were not going to give up our markets to those subsidized sales and well have a little kit bag that will meet that competition and hold our markets for our farmers. If you just go across-the-board and subsidize everything thats a different order of program and seems to me quite questionable he said.
SHULTZ SAYS U.S. WHEAT BONUS OFFER UP TO USDA