ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses US–Romanian relations during the Presidency of Gerald Ford. Through the lens of the bilateral relationship it examines the conduct of US foreign policy in Eastern Europe and points to a re-evaluation of its content and its results regarding the cultivation of détente not only on the Moscow–Washington axis but also in a more extensive approach with the rest of the socialist regimes. The granting of MFN to Bucharest through the 1975 Trade Agreement stands out as a pivotal moment due to the linkage of MFN with emigration in accordance with the infamous Jackson–Vanik amendment. Ceausescu’s implicit acceptance of the linkage between MFN and emigration opened the way to a more closely monitoring of human rights even if at that point it was restricted to the level of free emigration.
