The Port of Corpus Christi is the fifth-largest port in terms of tonnage in the United States. It is the most recent participant in the international Green Marine program. Photo by Carrie Robertson Meyer/Third Coast Photo
A newly appointed council to end the travel ban and trade embargo with Cuba includes John P. La Rue, executive director of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority. Engage Cuba is a leading advocacy organization comprised of private companies and organizations. Members of its council represent a variety of industries, including agriculture, business, technology, manufacturing, education, energy and health care.
“Cuba is one of the last markets in the world to which Texans do not have full access to trade our goods and services,” LaRue said in a press release. “The Port of Corpus Christi Authority is pleased to lend its name to this effort in support of open markets and free trade.”
The port’s relationship with Cuba began in 2000 when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ALIMPORT, a Cuban food purchasing agency. This came on the heels of the Trade Sanctions Reform ad Export Enhancement Act, which became law that same year. TSREEA allowed trade of certain agricultural products, but only under strict regulations, including cash-only sales with no credit allowed. It was a thaw, but a very slight one.
A push for renewal of trading with the country only 90 miles off the coast of Florida began in earnest in 2015 when President Obama lifted various travel and financial restrictions. He also opened embassies, but his call to lift the 50-plus-year trade embargo failed to get through Congress.
Obama became the first U.S. leader in 90 years to visit Cuba when he met with Cuban President Raul Castro in March. His visit highlighted the purchasing power of the country's 11 million citizens as well as the average $1 billion spent each year importing agricultural products.
Coupled with the country’s immediate need for infrastructure improvements to meet the rising demand of foreign travelers, imports to Cuba could well come fromTexas industries through the Port of Corpus Christi, said LaRue.
“The U.S. was the largest trading partner with Cuba prior to the embargo in 1960,” he explained. “The time has come to again allow commerce with Cuba similar to our other trading partners around the world. We are pleased to continue the support of this and any efforts to encourage removing the embargo and allowing American citizens to freely travel and conduct trade with the people of Cuba.”
Engage Cuba is advocating for three bills in Congress:
• The Agricultural Export Expansion Act of 2015, which would allow American farmers to offer financing to Cuban importers and recapture lost market share;
• The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act expanding Cuba’s already growing markets and providing additional opportunities for U.S. agribusiness to export to Cuba;
• The Cuba Trade Act of 2015, which would permit private-sector industries in the United States to export goods and services to Cuba, including language to ensure that U.S. taxpayers wouldn’t be on the hook if the Cubans default on lines of credit extended by U.S. banks and businesses.
“Trade is a huge part of the Texas economy,” said Bill Hammond, CEO of the Texas Association of Business, another member of the Engage Cuba Coalition council. “Opening new markets is critical to expanding trade, and Texas businesses look forward to working with Cuban businesses to build a strong trading relationship that will benefit both economies.”
