(FORTUNE Magazine) – A rare U.S. presidential trade mission to the Soviet Union hit Moscow in the midst of the most dramatic political and economic crisis since 1917. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher and 15 top American executives arrived as bread lines wound around corners while a bumper crop rotted in the fields. Faced with that -- and under mounting pressures from radical reformers led by Russian Republic leader Boris Yeltsin -- Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev backed a sweeping new plan to create a market economy in only 18 months. In a two-hour meeting with the Americans in the Kremlin, Gorbachev said, ''All the various factions here agree we must start to move from a controlled economy to a market economy.'' But the Soviet leader made it clear he is not tied to an arbitrary ; timetable. ''To rush to a market economy is to be irresponsible,'' he said. ''We should start with a short-term period of stabilization. The convertibility of the ruble is my highest priority.'' To accomplish that, of course, the Soviets would truly have to reform their economy. Gorbachev hinted broadly that he was not prepared to free prices fully just yet. Said he: ''Too much debate is focused on the mechanism of price reform as if it were the only issue. I believe we should first stabilize monetary conditions in the U.S.S.R.'' During the first six months, the reform plan that Gorbachev endorses would mop up many of the billions of rubles in circulation as a way to head off the hyperinflation reformers dread. The government would do so by selling land, housing, and some state enterprises to its citizens. The right to buy and sell real property would help instill value in a currency that Soviets now deride as ''cabbage.'' The plan would cut government subsidies, accelerate privatization, and free prices -- but not for 150 essential commodities. To further ease the blow on the poor, wages would be indexed to rising prices. Responsibility for key economic affairs -- including some taxation and foreign investment -- would be shifted to the republics. As market forces take hold, restrictions on trading rubles for foreign exchange would be gradually eased. Said Gorbachev to the Americans: ''Stabilization will lead to greater domestic productivity and open the U.S.S.R. economy to foreign investment. This is the only way to move.'' Soviet leaders repeatedly asked for trade, not aid. They may be getting it too. Chevron CEO Kenneth Derr said he hoped to sign an agreement by year's end to help the Soviets develop the oil-rich Tengiz Basin near the Caspian Sea. (Gorbachev told Derr: ''We expect a lot from you.'') Texaco CEO James W. Kinnear agreed to study the feasibility of drilling for oil 600 miles north of Moscow on the White Sea. Arco CEO Lodwrick Cook discussed with Soviet leaders the possibilities of exploring for gas in Siberia. Mark Hungerford, CEO of Transcisco Industries, signed a deal to lease an additional 1,000 tank cars that his company manufactures in the Soviet Union with Finnish partners. They will be used for hauling oil by rail. Clearly, the Soviets need U.S. technology and management skills to help reverse their declining oil production. That would bring in some of the hard currency they must have to modernize their transportation and communications infrastructure -- and put goods in the stores. Soviet officials also want foreign investment to help develop mining, housing, automotive distribution, and aircraft and commercial space industries. The American delegation proposed that the Soviets send managers to work at U.S. companies for three to six months for training. Gorbachev thought that was ''a great idea.'' He added, ''Our biggest problem is developing brains and changing the mind-set of our people.'' And he promised to set up a Soviet-U.S. trade office to clear away some of the bureaucratic confusion and red tape. U.S. business leaders have often said how hard it is to nail down contracts in the Soviet Union, particularly since different republics are exercising increasing independence. Mosbacher's advice to Americans who want to do business now in the Soviet Union: ''Touch all government bases -- central, republic, and local.'' But red tape is no Soviet monopoly. Said Gorbachev: ''Let me tell you, it is equally difficult to identify who to talk to in your country. Very often I will raise a question to the State Department, which passes it to the Commerce Department. The Commerce Department sends it over to the Pentagon, and then it ends up in Congress.''