Cuba plans to reduce imports from the U.S.

Cuba plans to reduce imports from the U.S. Five years after regular export services from the U.S. to Cuba started, Cuba's Alimport import agency says it plans to start shifting some of its U.S. import business to countries that are easier to work with, according to a report the agency presented to a U.S. congressional delegation in December.
   Cuba's imports from the U.S. are restricted primarily to agricultural-related goods. Alimport said about $300 million originally budgeted for the purchase of U.S. goods will be shifted to trading partners like Venezuela, Brazil, China, and Vietnam.
   Cuba estimates it imported $600 million in U.S. goods in 2006, up from $540 million in 2005. The report said that it was increasing its overall imports, but more spending would go to countries besides the U.S. That means U.S. imports could still exceed $300 million in 2007, in spite of the $300 million shift to other countries.
   Crowley Maritime Corp. vice president of government services Jay Brickman said Pedro Alvarez, who heads Alimport, confirmed the plans in two meetings with officials from U.S. exporters and shipping companies. The first was at an international trade conference in Havana in November, the second an event in December, marking the fifth anniversary of Crowley's service to Cuba.
   Brickman told the Florida Caribbean Connection that Alvarez was straightforward in his explanation of the changes. The Cuban official said that when Cuba started to import goods from the U.S. in 2001, it had hoped to make inroads with U.S. agricultural interests that would lead to expanded trade relations with the U.S.
   Alvarez also said Cuba hoped to end the all-cash payment requirements for U.S. imports, establish trade credit, and make other improvements such as increasing the kinds of products that could be imported from the U.S. and even establish tourism.
   Since none of those things have happened, he said, Cuba has decided to shift more of its business to nations with more friendly trade policies, according to both Brickman and the report Alimport gave to the U.S., congressional delegation.
   Crowley offers service from Port Everglades to Havana, carrying frozen chicken, canned food, bagged food, and some chemical and forest products. He said the Cuba market is small for Crowley, accounting for about 40 containers a week.
   Cuba also imports grain, frozen chicken, and wooden utility poles using charter barges and reefer carriers from Gulf Coast ports.