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House Committee trying to facilitate Cuba-US trade
BY GABRIEL MOLINA
ACCORDING to Reuters, on Tuesday
the House Appropriations Committee passed an
amendment to deactivate the Treasury Department
measure of last February increasing the limitations
on food sales to Cuba.
The amendment, which now has to
be passed by the full House and Senate to become
law, would return the issue to the former rules that
permit the dispatching of merchandise to be paid for
at its destination in Cuba. The obligation to pay in
cash and the prohibition of credits were added by
the Cuban-American congress members to the law
authorizing those sales in 2000.
Since February and likewise under
pressure from Cuban-American groups, the Treasury
Department has demanded that the island’s buyers pay
for the goods in advance, in cash and before they
are shipped. US businesspeople have alleged that the
measure prejudices sales from that country to Cuba,
which currently stand at some $450 million in
foodstuffs like rice, meat, vegetables and fruits.
The food industry has complained
to Congress that the regulations make another letter
of credit necessary for Cuban buyers. This unusual
system is placing US manufacturers at a disadvantage
in relation to other countries.
The Cuban import enterprise
Alimport admitted that it has been forced to divert
a significant volume of its purchases from other
countries.
The amendment was presented by
legislator Jo Ann Emerson, Republican, Missouri, and
approved without debate. There is a majority in both
chambers for facilitating more food sales, and US
travel to Cuba.
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