古巴为谷物提供潜力

对美国农业expor仍然潜力巨大ts to Cuba, including corn, sorghum, barley and their co-products, but so do steep trade challenges, U.S. Grains Council staff learned on a recent industry mission to the country.

USGC staff from the Western Hemisphere office participated this month in the Cuba and U.S. Agriculture Business Conference in Havana to learn more about current U.S. export and import policies regarding Cuba, investing in Cuban agricultural production and creating a viable and long-term trade relationship between the two countries. The three-day conference endeavored to increase sales of U.S. agricultural commodities and boost cooperation.

USGC has been involved with Cuba many times over the years, sending a delegation to the island nation as recently as 2015 to examine the market potential for the U.S. grain trade and the financing possibilities the U.S. could offer the country.

The recent mission continued this outreach focused on ag trade. Taking a page from U.S. companies already successfully doing business in Cuba, including Marriott and Jet Blue, meeting attendees pooled their knowledge and know-how to better understand the political and commercial situation to find ways to facilitate U.S trade to Cuba. Comprised of Cuban agribusiness leaders and farmer cooperatives and members of the U.S. ag sector - including corn, soybean, wheat, rice, poultry and potato industries – the mission participants had high hopes to begin to hash out the barriers between the two countries.

USGC区域营销专家Catalina Correa说：“在古巴没有简单的答案，西半球参加​​了会议，“然而，尽管政治现实是政治现实，但土壤仍在为如何迈向更高的经济发展方面做好了更大的讨论。两国。

“有动力。尤其是在世界其他地区的贸易争端，美国农业生产商正在寻找其他市场，而且曾经像古巴这样的挑战性超越的市场，现在有了更大的希望。”

According to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, the United States has sold $5.7 billion in food and feed to Cuba since 2000, when an amendment to the trade embargo allowed agricultural sales for cash. U.S. farmers and agribusinesses would like to expand the market, but because the Cuban government is not allowed to make purchases on credit, there are still barriers to getting food and feed grains to the country of 11.4 million people.

尽管有这一障碍，但预计该市场将为2018/2019营销年度的美国农民提供大量机会，每年玉米（3930万蒲式耳）的进口估计，主要来自阿根廷。如果美国农民能够占据这一市场份额，古巴将是美国玉米的第十二大进口商，也有可能增加其对美国蒸馏厂用溶土（DDG）和其他谷物的干谷物的使用。

不仅在古巴引起问题的信用问题，而且不仅仅是销售是美国利益的主要推动力。人道主义对营养不良的考虑是岛国人口的现实。

对包括肉鸡，鸡蛋和牛肉在内的动物AG行业有既定的需求，这次旅行为美国和古巴农民之间的这些需求提供了讨论的机会。

“今天，古巴人没有得到足够的蛋白质，”科雷亚说。“平均每月只吃四个鸡蛋。牛奶仅适用于婴儿，直到他们达到两岁。营养不良是他们的日常关注。禁运触及每个古巴的生活。它影响了他们生活的各个方面。”

Maintaining a consistent dialogue with Cuba is an important part of USGC's programs with the country's ag sector.

USGC总裁兼首席执行官汤姆·莱克（Tom Sleight）最近还与美国大会会议结合了纽约市的古巴新总统Miguel Diaz-Canel。

“In many ways, meeting President Diaz-Canel reminded me of the early days of the reopening of the Cuban market back in the late 1990s,” Sleight said. “President Diaz-Canel was open and affable. The barriers to expanded U.S. trade are considerable, yet the desire on both sides to keep talking was sincere.”