House Rejects Bill to Ease Cuba Trade Sanctions
August,07 2007
On July 27, 2007 the House of Representatives, by a 245-182 margin, rejected legislation that would have improved U.S. policy and trade relations with Cuba. The bill, entitled "Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2007" was intended to improve the economic relations between the two nations.
The legislation, which was designed to promote the export of U.S. agricultural products to Cuba, would have overturned Treasury Department rules that complicate the shipments of these products to that nation. For U.S. agricultural producers engaging in sales and transport-related activities with Cuba, this bill would have eliminated delays and denials for obtaining travel licenses to the island. In addition, this legislation would have permitted direct payments between Cuban and U.S. financial institutions, eliminating unnecssary transaction fees.
"The Cuban economy continues to grow despite the U.S. embargo, and American exporters are forced to sit idly by while Chinese and Canadian companies take advantage of opportunities in our backyard," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). "Outdated, unnecessary, and overzealous restrictions," he continued, "are putting Americans, not Fidel Castro, at disadvantage."
The restrictive nature of U.S. policy toward Cuba is hurting American interests by denying producers access to greater open market. The trade barriers imposed by the U.S. government has discouraged American exporters from conducting business in the largest business market in the Caribbean, resulting in millions of dollars in lost U.S. profit to the benefit of other nations.
"When we try to isolate Cuba,” added U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), “it doesn't stop Cuba from purchasing agriculture products…It simply stops them from engaging in trade with Americans.”
Although the bill would not have lifted the four-decade old U.S. embargo, it would have made Cuba a more significant trading partner. Thus, the rejection of this legislation not only represents a loss in agricultural sales, it also denotes a lost economic opportunity for future U.S. business ventures.
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