Everett Griner talks about U.S. and Cuban agriculture officials talking trade in today’s Agri View.
Trade Talks and Cuba
From ERS Amber Waves website:
In December 2014, the United States announced that it would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and implement executive actions intended to ease the trade and travel restrictions currently in place. Establishment of a more normal economic relationship with Cuba could foster additional growth in U.S.-Cuba agricultural trade by promoting greater productivity in the Cuban economy; increasing demand for agricultural imports among Cuban consumers, food service providers, and food manufacturers; and providing the policy and legal framework for the resumption of U.S. agricultural imports from Cuba. The executive actions announced in December 2014, however, only constitute a small step in the direction of normal trade relations between the two countries, as Congressional action is required to modify the longstanding U.S. economic embargo of Cuba.
Over the long term, perhaps the most important ingredients for fostering growth in U.S.-Cuba agricultural trade are to build a foundation for a two-way relationship in trade and investment, and creating the trust for sustaining that relationship. For agricultural trade, that foundation does not yet exist. While over the past 15 years the United States has quickly reestablished itself as one of Cuba’s leading suppliers of agricultural imports, the updated U.S. policy approach to Cuba provides few if any opportunities for Cuba to export agricultural products to the United States. Over the next 15 years, the challenge will be to provide more balanced opportunities for U.S.-Cuba agricultural trade and to continue to build confidence in the emerging bilateral commercial relationship.
Read the full article here.
More on U.S.-Cuba Trade Relationship: Past, Present, and Possible Future