Posted April 24, 2015
Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and John Boozman, R-Ark.,
introduced a bill today that would allow banks to finance agricultural exports
sent to Cuba, helping to open up Cuban markets to American farmers and
ranchers, according to an Agri-Pulse article available here.
National Miami Herald also published an article available here
and McClatchy DC here.
“While
farmers in North Dakota and all across the country dedicate their lives to
feeding folks around the world, we have to make sure our producers have the
opportunities they need to get their products to market,” said Heitkamp. “The
biggest obstacle in that effort involves private companies and banks not being
able to provide credit to export agricultural commodities to Cuba, where these
crops are in high demand.”
The bill
seeks to remove one of the main barriers to open agricultural trade with Cuba:
the prohibition on credit sales. The Agricultural Export Expansion Act, would
lift the current ban on private banks and companies from offering credit for
agricultural exports to Cuba, according to McClatchy
DC.
Overall,
Cuba imports more than $2 billion a year in food and agricultural products. The
U.S. share of that has been several hundred million dollars in recent years, but
it has been trending down and totaled less than $300 million in 2014. Agricultural
experts see the potential for U.S. sales to exceed $1.2 billion annually within
five years, according to Miami
Herald.
The U.S.
farm lobby is pushing hard for a full repeal of the trade embargo, and while
there is bipartisan support for such a move, it remains very controversial in
Congress and experts say a full repeal is very unlikely this Congress.
For more information on international law and organizations,
please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
