The U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC), of which the National Chicken Council is a member, celebrated its one-year anniversary on Wednesday by urging policymakers to end the embargo in 2016. USACC, which seeks to enhance two-way trade between the United States and Cuba, pointed to regulatory changes and congressional activity on advancement of bills over the past year as clear evidence that the wheels of change are turning.
Devry Boughner Vorwerk, a Cargill executive who chairs the USACC, said the coalition “began its first year of existence on the common realization by U.S. agricultural interests—including producers, growers, companies, NGOs, and state organizations—that the ongoing embargo with Cuba has far outlasted its purpose, and now only serves as an obstacle to the common interests of the two countries. Now only a year on, we have seen a series of significant actions by the administration to achieve that objective. But there is more to be done, and all roads lead to Congress.”
“Over the past year, the USACC has been working with the administration and Congress to remove financing and trade restrictions that have limited the ability of the U.S. agriculture industry to competitively serve the Cuban market. The sanctions have caused the United States to surrender market share to competitors such as Canada, Brazil, and Argentina,” Vorwerk said.
Vorwerk reviewed the progress the group had made in the last year, including the January 26, 2016 announcement from The White House that it will amend regulations to ease financing restrictions for certain types of exports and expand on earlier changes easing travel restrictions as well as the reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Havana in July last year, and a trade mission by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in 2015.
“We applaud the administration’s efforts over the past year to normalize trade relations with Cuba,” said USACC Vice Chair Paul D. Johnson. “However, while we advance trade opportunities by allowing some products to be sold on credit, we should not exclude agriculture. Building a healthy agriculture policy with Cuba benefits not only U.S. agriculture, but the lives of every Cuban,” Johnson said.
Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack, who also attended the event, said the Cuban market, with 11 million people just 90 miles off the Florida coast, offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers as well as producers of farm machinery and other goods, but those opportunities are being hampered by a half-century old trade embargo that has long out lived its purpose. “We need Congress to act to lift the embargo and to do it now, ” Vilsack said. “Right now, we are at a disadvantage.” Vilsack also called on Congress to support President Obama’s budget request to fund a USDA presence in Havana.
A number of lawmakers attended the event to pledge their support, including Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representatives Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Ted Poe (R-TX), Ralph Abraham (R-LA), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), and Jim McGovern (D-MA).
The coalition said it plans to take a second trip to Cuba in April 2016 whereby it seeks to sign an industry memorandum of understanding in areas such as two-way trade, production, sustainability, investment, supply chain, and research and development.
