U.S. goods plentiful in Cuba

U.S. goods plentiful in Cuba
Miami Herald
09/13/2009

HAVANA — The three-level Carlos III shopping center in downtown Havana
is a showcase of embargo-skirting goods. There are Wilson baseball caps,
Westinghouse light fixtures, Proctor-Silex juicers and GE microwave
ovens — and that's on the second floor alone.

On the streets outside, trendy Sean John jeans and Ray-Ban sunglasses
fight for space with "Che" Guevara T-shirts. Dell computers power some
government ministries, and at least one Boeing 767 plies the skies for
Cuba's national airline.

With so many U.S. goods on display, Cubans might be forgiven for
thinking the nearly five-decade embargo doesn't so much keep products
out as make them more expensive.

"The embargo is not between America and Cuba," said Manuel, 46, a Havana
cab driver. "It's between Cubans — those who can afford things and those
who can't."

While it is illegal for most U.S. companies and their subsidiaries to do
business on the island, their products still flood the markets.

Some items — such as food, agricultural goods and medicine — are there
legally under exceptions to the embargo. But others are spirited in by
entrepreneurs, front companies and independent distributors that worry
little about U.S. laws.

"There is nothing we make that can't be purchased from foreign
suppliers," said Washington attorney and embargo expert Robert Muse.

Nestled inside the Hicacos shopping center on Cuba's exclusive Varadero
beach is a shop that sells dozens of models of New Balance running shoes.

New Balance Vice President Edward Haddad said the company complies with
the embargo, but speculated that the sneakers may have been bought from
the company's independent Central American distributor that operates out
of the duty-free zone in Colon, Panama.

"One of the reasons there may be so many American goods in Cuba is due
to the nature of the way that region operates," he said. "A lot of it is
cash and carry. They will go into the Colon Free Zone, buy products and
bring them back."

In some cases, businesses can be found liable if their products wash up
in Cuba's stores.

Since January, the Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC, has
sanctioned eight companies and individuals for violating the embargo. In
July, OFAC fined Philips Electronics of North America $128,750 after one
of its foreign affiliates sold medical equipment to Cuba.

While U.S. consumer goods may be readily available on the island, they
are not always within reach of average Cubans.

Take the Wilson baseball cap for example. With a price tag of 11.20
convertible pesos, that makes it about $14. The base minimum wage on the
island is about $10 a month.

Although prices on many imported goods are exorbitant by Cuban
standards, on a recent weekday Carlos III and other stores that sell
such products were buzzing with shoppers.

However, as market forces and U.S. business interests keep chipping away
at the embargo, some believe the day is not far off when U.S. companies
can trade with the island directly.

U.S. goods plentiful in Cuba - STLtoday.com (13 September 2009)
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