Hope for Cuba Trade

Hope for Cuba Trade. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. This could be a make or break week for those trying to ease restrictions on agricultural exports to Cuba. GARZA: We have an opportunity to move a bill forward to a full house vote, but in order for that to happen we need to get it through the house agriculture committee. This will be the most difficult process of it all. There needs to be a sign of assurance that members of congress are willing to see this move forward. American Farm Bureau trade specialist Chris Garza says the agriculture committee won't vote on the bill unless they have enough votes to pass it, and right now they're not quite there. GARZA: It's very difficult to understand why members of congress cannot get behind this legislation. We've had an embargo with Cuba for almost 50 years now and have not really seen it have an effect on Cuba, on its people or on the government it's time to try something new and we believe that engagement is the way to effect democracy within Cuba. The new law would eliminate bureaucratic hoops that make it harder for Cuba to trade with the U.S. and would lift all travel restrictions to the island nation. Garza says the changes would be a nice boost for the struggling economy. GARZA: Given the closeness that Cuba is in terms of travel time and given the types of commodities that we produce here in the United States, we should be the preferred supplier in Cuba and we are not. Cuba is turning to our competitors to fill the needs of their market. They are turning to the European Union, to Canada, to Argentina, to Brazil, even as far as Vietnam in order to bring in rice. We've been selling about $400 million worth of product. There are estimates out there that Cuba could be a billion dollar market for U.S. agriculture, but we have not been able to see that potential because of the legal restrictions that are in place, because those restrictions make the united states a more unreliable supplier to Cuba and unless we can lift those restrictions along with the travel restrictions that we have in place, we will never be able to fully realize our potential in the market. Garza explains the provisions of the bill to lift agricultural trade restrictions with Cuba. GARZA: The bill itself deals with three major provisions for U.S. agriculture and the restrictions that we face. The first one deals with cash payment in advance' and we're moving the restrictions on how cash payments take place with U.S. exporters. The second issue deals with a third country bank provision. Currently right now Cuba has to pay for U.S. commodities in cash, but has to send it through a third country bank, increasing the cost of our commodities. This would eliminate that provision. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.