Agriculture Dept. Raises Subsidy on Wheat Soviet Union May Buy

The Agriculture Department on Friday raised the wheat subsidy available to the Soviet Union, which has yet to respond to President Reagan’s month-old offer to sell 4 million metric tons of subsidized American wheat.

The subsidy level, which department officials review every Friday, was raised for the first time since Reagan made the offer Aug. 1. The review takes into account world market conditions.

Melvin E. Sims of the department’s Foreign Agricultural Service said officials raised the value of the subsidy to $15 per metric ton of wheat sold to the Kremlin. It had been $13 per metric ton, which some U.S. experts had criticized as too low.

The subsidy would be paid to grain exporters in the form of certificates that can be redeemed for government-held crops.

Officials have predicted that the Soviets will eventually respond to the offer, which is restricted to wheat they are obligated to buy under a trade agreement with the United States. The deal must be made by the end of September.

Soviet complaints that American wheat was too expensive led to pressure for the subsidy.

“I’m sure there is continual contact between the Soviets and the various exporters,” said Daniel G. Amstutz, undersecretary of agriculture, who noted that the Soviets have not been in the wheat market since the Reagan announcement.