>>Also the Soviets manufactured very little of anything valuable to the west. Their primary exports were commodities.

Time to mention the story of how Pepsi Co briefly had one of the largest navies in the world, because CCCP couldn't settle its debt to Pepsi with cash, so they accepted several warships instead.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soviet-union-pepsi-shi...

Lol, that's an amazing story. Thanks for sharing, I'd never heard of it!