Governor Bullock Encourages End to Trade Sanctions with Cuba

Citing economic opportunities for agriculture producers, Governor Steve Bullock wrote a letter to Congressional leadership encouraging them to normalize trade relationships with Cuba.

“Ending the embargo will create jobs here at home, especially in rural America, and will create new opportunities for U.S. agriculture,” Bullock said in the letter. “Expanding trade with Cuba will further strengthen our nation’s agriculture sector by opening a market of 11 million people just 90 miles from our shores, and continue to maintain the tremendous momentum of U.S. agricultural exports, which reached a record $152 billion in 2014.”

In the letter, Bullock noted that while U.S. food and agriculture companies can legally export to Cuba under current rules, the embargo imposes credit restrictions, which require Cuba to pay cash in advance for products, limiting businesses opportunities.