U.S. exports to Cuba

The post I made yesterday started me thinking about trade from the U.S. to Cuba. Exports of agricultural products are made from the U.S. to Cuba. It's not illegal to sell food to Cuba, it's just illegal to finance the sale.

I know a couple of guys who make trips there regularly. It's legal. They get special permits because they are dealing with agriculture shipments.

Back in 2007, the ITC (U.S. International Trade Commission) issued a report estimating what would be the impact of allowing U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba, and allowing export financing on agricultural shipments to Cuba.

U.S. AGRICULTURE SALES TO CUBA WOULD GROW SIGNIFICANTLY IF U.S. TRADE AND TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS WERE LIFTED, SAYS ITC

# In 2000-01, U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba were negligible; however, they grew rapidly, and by 2004, the United States was Cuba's largest supplier. Although the value of U.S. exports has fallen slightly since then, the United States still supplies more agricultural products to Cuba than does any other country, accounting for approximately 30 percent of Cuban imports in 2006.

# U.S. regulations, such as those that require the Cuban government to pay for U.S. agriculture products in cash or through letters of credit drawn on third-country banks, raise the cost of U.S. goods for Cubans and likely limit U.S. sales. Other factors that increase costs are port delays; high transport charges owing to limited shipping routes; foreign exchange transactions, exacerbated by the need for third-country financing; and the uncertainty surrounding visas for Cuban officials to inspect U.S. agriculture production facilities.

# About 171,000 U.S. citizens visited Cuba in 2005. According to Commission estimates, in the absence of U.S. travel restrictions, between 550,000 and one million U.S. citizens would visit Cuba annually. This increase in U.S. travel would likely increase demand in Cuba for more and better quality food for tourists as well as for Cuban citizens who work in tourism and related services.

# Eliminating restrictions on trade, particularly those related to export financing, would likely have a larger impact on U.S. agricultural sales than lifting the travel restrictions on U.S. citizens. This is because most food imported from the United States consists of bulk commodities that are sold to Cubans rather than foods that are sold to tourists. With the elimination of all such restrictions, U.S. exports to Cuba could almost double from their 2006 level. The largest absolute gains would be for fresh fruits and vegetables, including potatoes; milk powder; processed foods; and certain meats (poultry, beef, and pork).

I can't say I really agree with them regarding the change in Cuba if more tourists were going there. There are lots of tourists from Canada who go to Cuba. The problem is, Cuba has not relaxed their restrictions. Cubans were running illegal restaurants out of their homes to gain foreign currency, but I believe there was a crack-down on that.

The Cuban government (in my opinion) doesn't want the country to be overrun with foreigners and westernized, but that may change since apparently their economy is in the worse shape since the "special period".

.. the past year had been one of the most difficult since the so-called "special period" began - the term used for the economic crisis caused by the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which heavily subsidised Cuba.

Hamburg Sud and Alianca call at Havana, Cuba

Alianca is owned by Hamburg-Sued. They have not dropped the Alianca name as it is Brazilian Flag and well known.

They operate pretty much as one, except for the coastal trade in Brazil which only Alianca can provide.

The recent announcement of changes to their schedule is rather boring, unless you really need to know this stuff, or just want to brush up on your geography.
Honestly, I had to look up Navegantes, as this port was built only in 2007.

What I did find interesting is the port call at Havana. Of course, you cannot load cargo from the U.S. to Havana, but that doesn't mean every other country can't, and does, ship to Cuba.

This whole Cuba embargo thing by the U.S. is non-sense, and I expect it to change not too long after Obama takes offices.

Hamburg Sued and Alianca adjust vessel port calls

Hamburg Sud and Alianca announced changes to their two-string U.S. Gulf-Central America-Caribbean-South America East Coast (UCLA) service.

The carriers said String 1, offering direct connections between Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and the U.S. Gulf, will now call Houston, Cartagena, Suape, Santos, Rio Grande, Navegantes, Paranagua, Santos, Cartagena, Veracruz, Altamira, and back to Houston.

The rotation for String 2 remains the same, covering Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Puerto Cabello, Cartagena, Santo Tomas de Castilla, Havana, Veracruz, Altamira, Manzanillo, Cartagena, Puerto Cabello, and back to Santos.

The two carriers said the changes follow operational difficulties at ports in Venezuela, while continuing to serve the country's Port of La Guaira via Cartagena, Colombia, through a dedicated feeder service operated by Hamburg Sud.