The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service has released a report entitled “U.S.-Cuba Agricultural Trade: Past, Present, and Possible Future.” The report discussed the potential to foster additional growth in U.S.-Cuba agricultural trade with the possibility of a more normal economic relationship with Cuba being established.
Prior to the Cuban Revolution of 1959, bilateral agricultural trade featured large volumes of products between Cuba and the United States. In 2000, the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba was loosened to allow for U.S. exports of agricultural products. As a result, the United States soon became Cuba’s leading supplier of agricultural imports. However, the prohibitions on issuing credit to Cuba, which remained in place, gave other exporting countries a competitive advantage in the Cuban market, and the United States slipped to being the second leading supplier in 2013. In 2014, the United States slipped to the third leading supplier.
The report, available here, points out that, if a more normal economic relationship between the two countries was in place, it would allow Cuba to resume exporting agricultural products to the United States, while U.S. agricultural exports would be able to develop commercial ties in Cuba that approximate their business relationships in other parts of the world.
