At the end of the first official USDA visit to Cuba since 1961, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said U.S. farm and food products could gain a significant share of the island’s $2 billion food-import market, reports the Des Moines Register. “There is no reason why, if barriers can be reduced and eliminated, that we wouldn’t be in a very competitive circumstance,” Vilsack told reporters.
Food sales to Cuba were exempted from the U.S. trade embargo in 2001 but Cuba still must pay cash on delivery – in dollars – for the goods, and credit is barred on the transactions. “Vilsack said these challenges must be addressed in Washington for U.S. producers to benefit from eased relations with Cuba,” said the Register. U.S. goods account for 16 percent of Cuba’s food purchases at present. The Obama administration announced a normalization of relations with Cuba at the end of 2014.