Delaware looks to expand Cuba trade

Del. looks to expand Cuba trade
Easing of embargo may boost agricultural exports
By LULADEY B. TADESSE, The News Journal
Posted Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Changes to the U.S. embargo against Cuba in recent years have opened up agricultural market opportunities for American companies, including those in Delaware, said Kirby Jones, a trade expert on Cuba, at a World Trade Center luncheon Tuesday in Wilmington.

American companies are expanding their share of the Cuban market, but they remain at a significant disadvantage compared with their foreign counterparts who don't have a trade embargo against the island nation, Jones told an audience of about 20 people.

"Everybody is there except us," said Jones. "There is not a single sector without foreign investment."

Fidel Castro's communist government still controls Cuba's economy, but is making an effort to create an economy that mixes socialist ideals and a capitalist system, he said. The country is opening up its market to foreign investors from China, France, Britain and others who are investing in sectors ranging from energy to tourism to biotech.

Aggressive lobbying efforts by businesses and the agricultural industry convinced Congress to enact the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act in 2000, which allows American companies to export food and agricultural products as well as some medical equipment to Cuba.

U.S. trade with Cuba has jumped from $7.2 million in 2001 to $369 million last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Forty-one states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, exported mostly agricultural products to Cuba last year.

Delaware poultry companies including Perdue and Tyson Foods have taken advantage of the change to expand their markets.

"Anytime we can expand markets for grain products in the mid-Atlantic, that is good," said Julie DeYoung, spokeswoman for Perdue, which processes chicken and contracts with grain farmers in Delaware and other states within the mid-Atlantic region.

Perdue has been exporting soybeans and soybean meal, which are used as feed, to Cuba for the past three years. The company would not say how much it exports to Cuba, but said it accounts for about 10 percent of its international business.

Other Delaware companies are exploring opportunities in Cuba.

"I am like most Americans. I thought that Cuba was closed to us," said Gwen North, a partner at Port to Port, a Wilmington-based shipping company that exports used cars and car parts to Central America.

North said her company hired an individual to look into export opportunities in different parts of the world, including Cuba. She also has discussed with the Delaware Department of Agriculture the possibility of working with state grain farmers interested in exporting wheat and barley to Cuba.

"We are exploring the possibility at some time in the near future of working with exporters to Cuba," said Orlando Camp, marketing manager at the department.

Camp has been traveling to Central America and the Caribbean in search of new markets for Delaware produce and grain.

Delaware officials said they are interested in making the state more competitive with other states in exports to Cuba.

"We are not participating, and this could result in a negative impact for our companies that are being left behind," said state Rep. Joseph Miro, who was born in Cuba.

Miro said he plans to organize a trade mission to Cuba sometime next year. He said he is optimistic a change in leadership in Congress may help open up more doors to trade with Cuba.

Some of the strongest proponents of keeping the embargo on Cuba have lost powerful positions in Congress, which previously made it difficult to make changes, Jones said.

Some members of Congress already are discussing trips to Cuba this month.

While most businesses don't expect a complete lifting of the embargo, many hope restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba eventually will be eased.

"I think the train has left the station, and we need to be ready to get on the train," said Miro.
Contact Luladey B. Tadesse at 324-2789 or ltadesse@delawareonline.com.

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