Doing business with Cuba

Cuba just had a trade fair, and a lot of U.S. farmers and elected officials—many of them Republicans--attended. I’ve written about this a number of times before, but it’s worth repeating.

Just weeks after President Bush delivered an address calling on the world to isolate Cuba, officials from Minnesota, Alabama and Ohio — and more than 100 American businesses — were working the giant Havana International Fair, trying to secure part of the $1.6 billion the Cuban government spends each year to import sugar, wheat, livestock, poultry and beans, among other staples.

This particular NYT piece provides a very good overview of U.S. trade policy and the provisions for cash-only transactions with Cuba (which are difficult but doable). I am glad the U.S. media is covering this sort of thing. If you get outside Florida, it’s clear that current Cuba policy has almost no support.