Push is on to boost U.S.-Cuba agro trade
President Obama's bid to warm up relations with Cuba gets short shrift
from Raúl Castro, but some in Congress are ready to go further.
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BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's overtures to Cuba have enlivened
the debate in Congress on boosting American travel and trade with the
island, though Raúl Castro on Wednesday dismissed the administration's
opening salvos, saying they ``only achieve the minimum.''
Speaking in Havana before a gathering of international ministers, the
Cuban president said ``it is not Cuba that has to make gestures.''
He called Obama's moves two weeks ago to lift travel and gift
restrictions on Cuban Americans and ease restrictions on U.S.
telecommunication firms ``fine, positive but only achieve the minimum.
The embargo remains intact.''
The State Department appeared unmoved by the criticism, countering that
it's Cuba that needs to show some effort.
''We're interested in a dialogue with Cuba, but I think the
international community wants to see some steps from Havana to see, to
gauge how serious the government there is,'' state department spokesman
Robert Wood said.
Regardless of Havana's reaction, Obama's moves have emboldened critics
of current U.S. policy who had already filed legislation to allow all
Americans to travel to Cuba. Next up, a contingent of farm-state
senators is expected to soon introduce legislation aimed at boosting
agricultural trade with the island.
A similar bill to ease trade and travel restrictions for U.S. farmers
and ranchers languished in the last Congress, but backers believe
momentum now is on their side.
''There's clearly a great deal of interest on the Hill,'' said Rosemarie
Watkins, director of international policy for the American Farm Bureau,
which considers increasing agricultural sales to Cuba ``an important
priority.''
An aide to Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus said the Montana
Democrat expects to introduce a bill to open trade and travel for U.S.
farmers, ranchers and families.
''We can and should do more,'' Baucus said after the administration
announced the easing of traveling and remittances by Cuban Americans.
```We need to make it easier for America's farmers and ranchers to sell
their high-quality products, including Montana's world-class wheat and
barley, to one of our closest markets.''
SUPPORTED BY FOES
Critics note the proposals are supported by many of the same longtime
opponents of U.S.-Cuba policy and they suggest the administration is
more likely to wait for Cuba to respond to its initial overtures before
endorsing further moves.
'The feeling I've been getting in Congress is, `We've done something and
now the regime has to show its good will,' '' said Mauricio
Claver-Carone, a leading pro-embargo lobbyist. ``Any media-created
momentum in Cuba policy has been cut off by President Obama putting the
onus on the regime.''
The State Department on Wednesday reiterated support for the trade
embargo in the wake of Castro's comments, with Wood noting, ``we do have
an embargo, and there is no plan at this point to lift that embargo. But
we do want to do what we can to support the Cuban people.''
USHERING CHANGE
Agricultural trade groups, however, argue that lifting the embargo would
usher change in Cuba by boosting economic opportunity. The U.S. Chamber
of Commerce estimates U.S. exports to Cuba reached $718 million in 2008,
with corn topping the list at $198 million, followed by meat, poultry
and wheat. But the chamber complained earlier this week at a House
hearing on trade with Cuba that cumbersome U.S. restrictions make it
difficult for small and medium-sized exporters to participate.
The regulations the industry wants changed include allowing Cuba to pay
for goods by credit and ending a policy that requires Cuba to pay for
products in advance. The chamber notes that U.S. agricultural sales to
Cuba decreased by nearly 15 percent in the two years after the Bush
administration required cash up-front.
BENEFITS OF PROXIMITY
The change could help the United States, which is only 90 miles from
Cuba, and box out Vietnam and China -- competitors for products like
rice, said Kirby Jones, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association,
which champions trade with Havana.
''The U.S. will always enjoy the benefits of geographical proximity --
closer than virtually every other supplier to Cuba,'' Jones told a House
subcommittee on commerce and trade.
But James Cason, a former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana,
said increased trade would benefit only the Cuban government.
''There is no consumer demand because the average Cuban has no money,
can barely survive,'' Cason said.
Advocates for lifting the embargo, like Adrean Scheid Rothkopf, vice
president for western hemisphere affairs at the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, noted that lifting the travel ban and allowing U.S. tourists
to visit the island would ``create a demand for more and higher quality
food for tourists.''
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Push is on to boost U.S.-Cuba agro trade - Business - MiamiHerald.com (1
May 2009)
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