Some Pros and Cons on Trading With Cuba

August 19, 1999

By the end of this year, limited trade between the United States and Cuba could be a reality. And although Cuba needs many of the foods produced in the United States, the island nation of Fidel Castro also has its own list of foods that Cuban exporters are anxious to sell into the U.S. market.

Sens. Tom Daschle (D-SD), Senate Democratic leader, and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) came back from Cuba, convinced the Senate 70-28 vote to allow U.S. exports of food and medicine to Cuba was the right thing to do. And President Clinton, apparently, is willing at least to listen to what Daschle and Dorgan have to say about trade with Cuba.

Daschle and Dorgan are urging the House to accept the Senate's provision in the agricultural appropriations bill when the conference committee meets to iron out differences in the two bills. But House leaders do not seem anxious to go along. "I am very confident he wants to continue the embargo on Cuba," spokesman John Feehery told REUTERS about his boss, House speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL). And Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) is one of the more vocal opponents of trade with Cuba.

The two senators who returned Sunday from Havana say Cuba now imports nearly $1 billion in food and imports, but say that could double in the next five years. Cuban doctors and hospital representatives told them more than 200 pharmaceuticals are out of stock in Cuba, and there is a serious need to replenish the supply.

They say they told Castro that further easing of the U.S. embargo would depend on whether the Cuban government makes progress on economic reforms and human rights. They also asked Castro to help with drug interdiction by allowing the U.S. Coast Guard to pursue drug dealers across the 12-mile boundary and into Cuban territorial waters during pursuits.

"The wild card that they have right now down in Cuba is sugar," says American Farm Bureau Federation trade specialist John Skorburg. "Certainly if Cuba was going to bring any sugar into the United States they would have to have some type of a negotiated sugar quota."

But it isn't only sugar Cuba would like to export to the United States: Cuba "has the potential to cause market problems for (U.S.) Growers of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers (and) also could be a big supplier of seafood," says AFBF.

The list is longer on the U.S. side of the fence. Skorburg says beans, rice, oils, dairy products, wheat, lard, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and even tractors are possible U.S. exports.

Before the 1959 revolution, 68% of all Cuban trade was with the United States, and 40% of all outside investment came from the United States. If bilateral trade again was allowed, agricultural sales could reach $1-2 billion within a few years, according to some figures.