MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US is Cuba's fifth trading partner in spite of the embargo

United States farm and food exports to Cuba reached 600 million US dollars in 2007, despite the decades old US trade embargo, according to the latest release from the Cuban Statistics Office.

This represents 100 million US dollars increase over 2006 when US farm and food sales totaled 484 million US dollars. The US is now Cuba's fifth largest trading partner after having begun selling to Cuba in 2002 under an amendment of the embargo. By 2006 and 2005, the US has already become the seventh trade partner. Venezuela and China figure as Cuba's top trading partners with 2.698 billion and 2.457 billion US dollars respectively. Canada is placed third and Spain fourth, each at more than one billion US dollars. Before the 1959 Cuban revolution that swept Fidel Castro into power, the United States was Cuba's top trading partner by far. In 1962, the United States imposed a trade embargo still in place today. An ever powerful anti Castro Cuban lobby in Washington has since impeded any close links with the island. Cuba's total trade in 2007 was 13.8 billion, with exports of 3.7 billion and imports of 10 billion US dollars. US food trade with Cuba is expected to grow even further this year because of the high prices of imports such as corn, wheat, soy and chicken. US members of Congress contrary to the embargo and the Cuban government have repeatedly said that lifting the trade embargo entirely would result in the US grabbing a much larger share of Cuba's trade and increasing its influence in Havana.