On April 3, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed the Economic Assistance Act, the Marshall Plan. In that plan, the United States contributed $13.3 billion in various forms of aid to Europe. The Marshall Plan aided both agricultural and industrial productivity in Europe, and helped rejuvenate ailing industries like chemicals, engineering and steel. It was also a stimulant to the U.S. economy by establishing markets for American goods. The implementation of the Marshall Plan has been cited as the beginning of the Cold War between the United States, its European allies and the Soviet Union.