Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) introduced the Cuba Agricultural Exports Act on Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill would alter current prohibitions against U.S. backing and financing for certain exports to Cuba.
“While the administration has called on Congress to repeal the embargo entirely, I think the correct approach is to make cautious and incremental changes to current Cuba policies in ways that benefit the United States,” Crawford said. “The Cuba Agricultural Exports Act would allow our producers to compete on a level playing field in the Cuban market, a significant opportunity for American farmers and ranchers.”
The Cuba agriculture market has more than a $1 billion value every year. Crawford said the Cuba Agricultural Exports Act would create innovative economic proospects and jobs for the U.S. agriculture industry.
“Not only is it estimated that Cuba imports around 80% of its food supply, but the U.S. also enjoys an inherent advantage due to our close geographic proximity and state of the art production and food distribution infrastructure,” Crawford said. “I believe that agriculture trading partnerships with Cuba will help build a foundation of goodwill and cooperation that will open the door to long-sought reforms in the same the way that American influence has brought reform to other communist states.”
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Rep. Ted Poe (R-TV) sponsored the bill with Crawford. The bill will now be sent to the House Agriculture Committee.
