Ag sales to Cuba dropped last year

Ag sales to Cuba dropped last year
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 00:35
Bob Meyer

U.S. agricultural sales to Cuba dropped 26 percent in 2009. John
Kavulich with the U.S.-Cuba Economic Trade Council says sales fell from
$710 million in 2008 to $528 million last year due to the economic
downturn and he doesn't expect things to turn around in 2010. Kavulich
says Cuba has seen its foreign income severely reduced by a drop in the
value of nickel and a decline in tourism. On top of that, the island is
still recovering from three hurricanes in 2008.

This is the first decline in sales since U.S. ag products were exempted
from the Cuban trade embargo in 2000. As part of that deal, the Castro
government is required to pay cash up front. Some business has now
switched to other countries who are willing to extend credit. Kavulich
says Vietnam is selling them lower quality food and giving them up to
two years to pay.

Cuba imports around 70 percent of its food, President Raul Castro is
trying to get more domestic production by turning thousands of hectares
of fallow land over to small farmers.

Ag sales to Cuba dropped last year - Truth About Trade and Technology
(16 February 2010)
http://www.truthabouttrade.org/news/latest-news/15576-ag-sales-to-cuba-dropped-last-year