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Cuba Signs More Food Deals With U.S.
HAVANA, Nov 01, 2004 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Cuba on Monday signed contracts to buy $10 million of U.S. wheat and meat products, and $300 million of American dairy cattle, launching a new round of deals for U.S. farm products projected to reach $150 million. The only deal with Castro is he can depart Cuba once he turns over power to the people of Cuba. "We're all committed to cooperation," said rancher John Parke Wright, of J.P. Wright & Co. "What we represent are good relations, fellowship and free and open trade." (It should not surpirse anyone why Castro remains in power, with comments like this.) Wright's Naples, Fla. company will ship the cattle to Cuba from Vermont. The $10 million deal was with Louis Dreyfus of Georgia for wheat, chicken and pork. The deals were announced at the weeklong International Fair of Havana, also attended by companies including Archer Daniels Midland of Illinois, Tyson Foods of Arkansas, and Cargill Inc. of Minnesota. Dealing with the devil Those agribusiness giants together have made a large percentage of the American farm sales since Cuba in 2001 began taking advantage of an exception to the U.S. trade embargo that allows the transactions on a cash basis. Over the past three years, Cuba has contracted to buy more than $900 million in American farm goods, including shipping and hefty bank fees to send payments through third nations. Half of funds could have been used to overthrown the commies. As of Sept. 1, American food producers had received $704.3 million from Cuba for the cumulative deals, minus the extra costs, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which tracks business between the two countries. For the first eight months of this year, Cuba was placed at No. 22 of 225 foreign agricultural markets for the United States, according to the council. Last year, Cuba was No. 35. Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-11-01 |
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