75. Editorial Note
The National Security Planning Group met in the Cabinet Room at the White House July 22, 1981, from 9:39 to 10:14 a.m. (Reagan Library, President’s Daily Diary) No minutes were found. In a July 21 memorandum to President Ronald Reagan, President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Richard Allen laid out the agenda and forwarded an undated National Security Council (NSC) discussion paper. On the memorandum, Reagan initialed his approval of a one-year extension of the grain agreement with the Soviet Union set to expire on September 30, 1981, and his disapproval of guaranteed access independent of Soviet policies toward Afghanistan, Poland, and leftist guerrillas. He did not indicate a decision on whether to increase Soviet purchase limits above a cumulative 8 million tons of wheat and corn. (Reagan Library, Executive Secretariat, NSC: National Security Planning Group (NSPG) Records, 22 July 1981 (1))
In an undated memorandum to Reagan, sent through Counselor to the President Edwin Meese, Allen wrote: “The National Security Planning Group met on July 22 and discussed the Five Year U.S.–U.S.S.R. Grain Agreement, which will expire on September 30, 1981, and a proposed credit sale of corn to Poland.” Neither Allen nor Meese initialed the memorandum. Attached to the memorandum is an undated paper containing four choices on the agreement: (1) “The current Five Year U.S.–U.S.S.R. Grain Agreement, scheduled to expire on September 30, 1981, shall be extended for a period of one year”; (2) “While the current terms of the agreement requiring the Soviet Union to purchase 6 million tons of grain and allowing the purchase of up to 8 million tons without U.S. approval shall pertain, The United States Special Trade Representative shall be allowed some flexibility with respect to these limits”; (3) “The United States will remain open to the possibility of discussions regarding the negotiation of a new five year agreement and an increase in the limits currently in existence, but only in parallel with an evaluation of Soviet actions in the world”; and (4) “There will be no U.S. guarantees against future embargoes.” Two decisions are also listed with regard to corn sales to Poland. Reagan did not indicate a preference among these choices on this memorandum. (Ibid.) However, he wrote in his diary on July 22: “A half day with an N.S.C. meeting on our grain sales to the Soviet. I agreed to a 1 yr. extension—our agreement expires Sept. 30. We’ll let them wonder for a while whether there can be a long term deal. Frankly I want some give from them on their obvious expansionism.” (Brinkley, ed., The Reagan Diaries, Volume I, page 58)
In a July 23 memorandum to Vice President George Bush, Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Secretary of the Treasury Donald Regan, [Page 225] Secretary of Agriculture John Block, Meese, Director of the Office of Management and the Budget David Stockman, Director of Central Intelligence William Casey, United States Special Trade Representative William Brock, White House Chief of Staff James Baker, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver, Allen enumerated five decisions: “The current Five Year US–USSR Grain Agreement, scheduled to expire on September 30, 1981, shall be extended for a period of one year; While the current terms of the agreement requiring the Soviet Union to purchase 6 million tons of grain and allowing the purchase of up to 8 million tons without US approval shall pertain, the United States Special Trade Representative shall be given some flexibility with respect to these limits; The United States will remain open to the possibility of discussions regarding the negotiation of a new five-year agreement and an increase in the current limits in parallel with an evaluation of Soviet actions elsewhere in the world; In the event the United States decides to negotiate a new grain agreement with the Soviet Union, there will be no US guarantee against the imposition of embargoes; Sale of Corn to Poland: Action shall be initiated for the purpose of extending $60 million in new credits to Poland for the purchase of 400,000 metric tons of corn.” (Reagan Library, Executive Secretariat, NSC: National Security Planning Group (NSPG) Records, NSPG 0020 22 July 1981 (1 of 2))