News

Ag exports to Cuba increasing

 

Food and ag exports to Cuba have continued on an upward trend following improved trade relations created under the Obama Administration.

The U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economics Council says food and ag exports increased more than $50 million from January through November 2017 compared to the year before. November 2017 exports alone increased by more than 100 percent than the previous November.

Nearly half of U.S. ag exports to Cuba last year were frozen chicken legs, followed by soybeans and corn.

North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp is calling for support of her Agricultural Export Expansion Act. Introduced last February, the bill would repeal restrictions on financing and provide more opportunities for farmers and agribusinesses to export to Cuba.

Total food and ag exports are almost 65 percent less than their peak in 2008, which Heitkamp says is directly tied to requirements that Cuba pay cash for U.S. imports.