New Senate bill aims to boost U.S.-Cuba farm trade
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sixteen U.S. senators on Wednesday proposed easing restrictions on U.S. farm exports to Cuba, a step they said could boost agricultural shipments to the communist-ruled country by more than $450 million a year.
Trade and travel sanctions against Cuba, in place since 1962, have not worked, said Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the Finance Committee chairman who introduced the bill along with 15 other Democratic and Republican senators.
The bill's introduction appeared to be a fresh sign that congressional support for the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba may be eroding.
"It's time for us to face the facts regarding Cuba," Baucus said in a statement. "It's a fact that Cuba is one of our closest export markets ... and it's a fact that our farmers and ranchers in Montana -- and across the United States -- need help selling their high-quality products in Cuba."
President Barack Obama has already eased limits on family travel to Cuba and allowed U.S. telecommunications companies to operate on the island. He has said, however, the trade embargo should stay in place for now to press for democratic reforms.
U.S. sanctions were partially lifted on sales of food and medical supplies in 2000, but logistics were complicated in 2005 by new U.S. requirements that Cuba pay cash for goods through third-country banks before they leave port.
Baucus said his bill would allow payments to be wired directly to the United States while shipments are in transit.
Since Fidel Castro, who seized power in a 1959 revolution, stepped aside and his brother Raul became Cuban president last year, many members of Congress have pressed for a new look at Washington's policy of shunning Cuba.
Some lawmakers from districts with anti-Castro Cuban-American exiles remain opposed to a greater opening to Cuba as long as the island is under communist control.
Baucus' bill would remove the ban on travel to Cuba for all U.S. citizens and residents, something other senators have already proposed. It would require the U.S. Agriculture Department to promote farm trade to Cuba and help U.S. exporters interested in shipments.
The legislation would also smooth the way for U.S. visas for Cuban buyers and veterinary officials who want to visit the United States on sales missions.
Exports of U.S. crops, meat and farm products to Cuba totaled $707 million in 2008, the U.S. International Trade Commission has said, but could surge to $925 million to $1.19 billion if restrictions were lifted on financing and tourism.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Peter Cooney)
