• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 10 / 02 / 2010

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010 4:24 PM CDT. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. pork exports to Cuba will more than triple if restrictions on travel and export financing for products going to the island are lifted, according to an Iowa State University analysis.

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is urging the House to take up legislation to let U.S. citizens travel to Cuba and allow direct transfers of funds from Cuban to U.S. financial institutions for products authorized for sale under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.

That law granted exceptions for ag and medical products to the unilateral trade embargo the United States placed on Cuba in 1960 after that country nationalized the property of U.S. citizens and corporations.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee was expected to mark up the bill Sept. 29. The NPPC asked the panel’s members to support H.R. 4645 and to oppose any amendments, according to a news release. Senate companion legislation is pending action in the Finance Committee.

ISU economist Dermot Hayes estimates U.S. pork exports would increase by $28.2 million after the travel and financing restrictions on Cuba are lifted.

Over the past year, the United States shipped about $13.4 million of pork to Cuba. The policy change also would create about 6,000 additional jobs in the United States, according to a study by Texas A&M University, which also found total U.S. exports would increase by $365 million a year.

“Because of its proximity to Cuba . . . the United States is in position to capture a large share of the Cuban pork import market,” said NPPC President Sam Carney of Adair.

Source: http://www.iowafarmer.com/articles/2010/10/02/top_stories/02nppc-cuba.txt