USDA Sec. Designate Pledges Support for Cuba Trade in Senate Hearing [inglés y español]

Yesterday, President of Engage Cuba, James Williams praised U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary designate Sonny Perdue for publicly supporting expanded trade with Cuba in his hearing before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee about his nomination to be agriculture secretary.

“USDA Secretary designate Sonny Perdue is an exceptionally qualified nominee to lead the USDA. Mr. Perdue has long been an advocate of expanding trade with Cuba’s $2 billion agricultural import market,” said President of Engage Cuba, James Williams. “We’re very optimistic that Mr. Perdue will be confirmed by the Senate and will continue to support American agribusiness by advancing efforts to lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba.”

In an exchange with committee member Senator John Boozman from Arkansas, Mr. Perdue said, “with respect to Cuba, for those of you on the Gulf Coast and those along the East Coast as well as those who have been mentioned by your colleagues in the upper midwest, I think we would love have Cuba as a customer in many things. I led an ag delegation from Georgia to Cuba as Governor in 2010 and I found then as much of the problem there regarding the demand was the ability to pay and the ability to finance there as much anything.”

As Mr. Perdue notes, American producers are able to sell their products to Cuba. However, they are unable to offer private financing for the sale of agricultural commodities to Cuba. As a result, American farmers have consistently lost market share in Cuba’s market every year since 2009. While this restriction is codified in law and would require an act of Congress, Mr. Perdue went on to announce his support for legislative efforts to remove these financing restrictions.

“So I think we have the product they need and they would like the product. The real issue I heard regarding Cuba was the financing part and certainly that would come probably under another area, not the USDA, but I would support their efforts if we could get private financing,” Mr. Perdue added. A full transcript is available here.

Mr. Perdue is referring to the bipartisan Cuba Agricultural Exports Act which would remove restrictions on offering credit for the export of agricultural commodities to Cuba. That bill has been introduced by Congressman Rick Crawford from Arkansas in the House and Senators Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota and John Boozman from Arkansas. [http://kticradio.com/agricultural/usda-sec-designate-pledges-support-for-cuba-trade-in-senate-hearing]
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Elogian postura sobre Cuba de posible titular de Agricultura en EE.UU
 
La coalición Engage Cuba elogió este 24 de marzo, al nominado a secretario estadounidense de Agricultura, Sonny Perdue, por apoyar públicamente la ampliación del comercio entre su país y la nación caribeña.

Perdue es un candidato excepcionalmente calificado para dirigir el Departamento de Agricultura, consideró James Williams, presidente de dicha organización, promotora del fin del bloqueo económico, comercial y financiero de Estados Unidos contra Cuba hace 55 años.

Resaltó que el nominado por el presidente Donald Trump ha sido durante largo tiempo un defensor de la expansión del comercio con el país antillano.

Somos muy optimistas de que Perdue será confirmado en el Senado y continuará apoyando el agronegocio estadounidense mediante el avance de los esfuerzos para levantar el bloqueo, recalcó Williams en un comunicado, al cual accedió Prensa Latina.

En una audiencia en la Cámara alta, Perdue afirmó que le encantaría tener a Cuba como cliente y señaló la necesidad de apoyo del Congreso para resolver problemas de financiación que permitan a los agricultores estadounidenses vender sus productos a esa nación.

Preguntado por el senador republicano John Boozam, de Arkansas, sobre sus opiniones acerca del país caribeño, dijo creer que tanto a los legisladores de la costa del Golfo de México como los del este y el centro oeste les encantaría el comercio con Cuba.

Recordó que en 2010, cuando era gobernador de Georgia, guió una delegación y apreció que el principal problema para el intercambio son las restricciones de financiación impuestas por las leyes estadounidenses, que exigen pagos en efectivo por adelantado.

Según Perdue, las exportaciones hacia la nación antillana son importantes tanto para los estados del sudeste que producen arroz como para los del medio oeste que cultivan frijoles y otros granos.[http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?o=rn&id=73568&SEO=elogian-postura-sobre-cuba-de-posible-titular-de-agricultura-en-ee.uu]