News

Minnesota trade group offers assurances to Cuban officials

A trade group from Minnesota offered assurances to Cuban officials that agriculture would not be affected by President Trump’s order to restrict travel and business with the communist country.

Minnesota Farm Bureau president Kevin Paap joined the state Lt. Governor, Ag Commissioner, and others last week on a mission planned months before Trump unveiled his new policy on Cuba.

“The President’s announcement was the Friday prior to us leaving, and what it did do is raise the awareness.  Certainly everyone in Cuba was well-aware of some of (President Trump’s) comments.  So it was very timely that we could be there to assure them that agriculture was not affected by these changes.”

He tells Brownfield agricultural trade between the U.S. and Cuba has tremendous potential and makes a lot of sense because of proximity.

“We’ve fought hard to make sure we can continue to trade our agricultural products, but also to make the commitment to them to let them know we are working hard to make sure we can be more competitive to open that trade even further.”

Paap calls Cuba a small but important market for U.S. farmers, and he wants Congress to pass legislation allowing Cuba access to credit like other trading partners currently enjoy.

 

 

 

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published.


 

Stay Up to Date

Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox!