The U.S. International Trade Commission estimates the U.S. could supply as much as two-thirds of Cuba’s agricultural imports, up from the current 30 percent, if restrictions are eased, Peterson said in a committee hearing this month. The bill would end a requirement that payments from Cuba to U.S. farmers go through a bank located in a third country and be made all in cash, steps that make trade more difficult.
The U.S. exported $528.5 million in food and agricultural products to Cuba in 2009, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.
Peterson’s bill, known as the “Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act,” is the latest House legislation seeking to end a 47-year prohibition on Americans traveling to Cuba. The “Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act,” sponsored by William Delahunt, Democrat from Massachusetts, would ease travel restrictions without changing rules about agricultural exports.
Versions of both bills are under consideration in the Senate.
Travel Ban
“I don’t think we’ll be able to get the agriculture changes by themselves,” Peterson said. “There’s a lot of support for lifting the travel ban, and if you put that together with the agriculture, I think we have enough votes to get it through the House.”
The bill may face more opposition in the Senate, he said.
President Barack Obama said March 24 that he’s seeking a “new era” in relations with Cuba even as he denounced “deeply disturbing” human rights violations by its government. Obama hasn’t told congressional Democrats where he stands on ending the travel ban, according to Peterson.
Obama last year eased restrictions on Cuban-Americans traveling to Cuba and transferring money to relatives back home. The U.S. State Department has also held talks in Havana with Cuban officials about restoring mail service and cooperation on migration issues.
The island nation can handle an influx of American tourists if the bill is passed, Cuba’s Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero said in a March 25 interview in Cancun, Mexico. He said the local tourism industry is preparing, with at least 9 hotels scheduled to break ground by the end of this year.
Tourism to Cuba increased 3.5 percent last year to 2.4 million visitors, with 900,000 travelers from Canada leading the way, Jose Manuel Bisbe, commercial director for the Tourism Ministry, said in an interview last week in Havana.
Cuban Tourism Ministry officials were in Cancun last week to meet with U.S. tourism industry professionals.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Levin in Philadelphia at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
