The Problem of Revising of US Trade and Credit Legislation and Issues of Technology Transfer in Soviet-American Relations in the Second Half of 1970s

The article examines the fate of the Jackson — Vanik and Stevenson amendments to U. S. trade and credit legislation during the administrations of G. Ford and J. Carter in the context of the development of bilateral relations between the superpowers. Based on published American documents, personal sources, materials from the Russian State Archive of Economics and the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History, the impact of the amendments on the interaction of the two states in the trade, economic and technological spheres, the positions and arguments of the parties on the issue of revising the amendments are identified, and the factors for maintaining restrictive provisions in American laws are determined. It is shown that part of the American political elite recognized the fallacy and ineffectiveness of the amendments already in 1975, however, representatives of the conservative establishment still saw the main precondition for revising the legislation as the liberalization of the Soviet approach to the departure of Jews from the country and the quantitative increase in emigration, while the Soviet leadership was disposed to dialogue, but was ready to make such significant concessions. During Carter’s presidency, the administration's approach was particularly contradictory, combining a willingness to continue dialogue to resolve the problem, an emphasis on the human rights situation in the USSR, and not very consistent attempts to link the issue of amendments with other issues in bilateral relations. In 1979, before the Vienna Summit, the Carter administration was ready to circumvent de facto the restrictive provisions of the amendments without their formal repeal, but the Soviet side continued to insist firmly on their complete abolition, which predetermined the ineffectiveness of the dialogue. The authors suggest that the uncompromising position of the Soviet leaders was associated not only with considerations of political prestige, but also with a restrained assessment of the prospects for further trade, economic and technological cooperation between the superpowers.

Keywords

Jackson — Vanik Amendment, Stevenson Amendment, détente, technology transfer, J. Carter, G. Ford, C. Vance, L. I. Brezhnev, Soviet-American relations

Acknowledgment

The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation No. 22-28-01876. https://rscf.ru/en/project/22-28-01876/

Received

02.12.2023

Publication date

15.06.2024

Number of characters

64450

Cite

GOST	Yungblyud V., Il'in D. The Problem of Revising of US Trade and Credit Legislation and Issues of Technology Transfer in Soviet-American Relations in the Second Half of 1970s // ISTORIYA – 2024. – V. 15. – Issue 4 (138) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840031334-6-1 (circulation date: 03.07.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031334-6
MLA	Yungblyud, Valery, Il'in, Dmitrii V "The Problem of Revising of US Trade and Credit Legislation and Issues of Technology Transfer in Soviet-American Relations in the Second Half of 1970s." ISTORIYA 15.4 (138) (2024) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031334-6
APA	Yungblyud V., Il'in D. (2024). The Problem of Revising of US Trade and Credit Legislation and Issues of Technology Transfer in Soviet-American Relations in the Second Half of 1970s. ISTORIYA 15(4 (138)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840031334-6

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