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For immediate release President of U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council offers “sobering encouragement” to Delaware Business What can American business expect from Cuba in the final months of the Obama administration? Painstakingly slow negotiations and an attempt to turn overtures from U.S companies into bait for to catch better terms from existing trade partners. “And what to expect from the Obama Administration?” asked John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. “A focus on expanding regulations, getting the government of Cuba to authorize initiatives, and negotiating a settlement of the certified claims.” Kavulich focused on that basic tension – between the strategically slow Cuban government and the excitement of American business as trade barriers begin to fall – in remarks he delivered to members of World Trade Center Delaware this week. He delivered a message of “sobering encouragement” to Delaware businesses – balancing the allure of new markets with sizeable challenges that remain. “There are export opportunities for United States companies, but they are hostage to politics, logistics, and ability to pay,” Kavulich said. Kavulich noted that trade with Cuba already exists in Delaware, a result of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in October 2000, reauthorized the direct export of food products and agricultural commodities from the United States to Cuba. “I remember in 2007 when Millsboro-based Mountaire Farms reported its exports of frozen poultry to Cuba,” Kavulich said. “And Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and Maryland-based Perdue Farms, which have exported frozen poultry to Cuba, each have operations in Delaware.” But corn exports, for one, face a challenge from government-provided and guaranteed exports from countries including Argentina and Brazil. Still, Delaware’s size may be an advantage in negotiations. The first agreements for agricultural machinery to be exported to Cuba from the United States were not made by large corporations, but by small family-owned businesses. “I read that approximately 80 percent of exports from Delaware originate through small and medium-sized businesses,” Kavulich said. “So it is important to know that the first export of a piece of agricultural machinery to Cuba was sold not by Case or New Holland, but from a family-owned company in Alabama.” And while Kavlulich understands the desire to travel to Cuba on business – to drink “the Mojito at El Floridita where the writer Ernest Hemingway would sit on a stool” – he also advises business leaders to go with a specific plan and to research in advance what is, and is not, allowed in a quickly changing marketplace. “You don’t need a consultant,” he said. “You probably don’t initially require legal services. But you should try to make certain that you know what the United States government authorizes you to do and what the government of Cuba authorizes you to do. There is often a tremendous distance between the two opportunities.” ### The World Trade Center Delaware is a private-sector, nonprofit organization helping Delaware companies to succeed in the international marketplace. With a primary focus on export promotion, the WTC Delaware develops programs to assist businesses and organizations including educational and networking events, market research, and consulting. ### Media Contact: Matt Sullivan, WTC communications (302) 354-3306, [email protected]
For immediate release President of U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council offers “sobering encouragement” to Delaware Business
What can American business expect from Cuba in the final months of the Obama administration? Painstakingly slow negotiations and an attempt to turn overtures from U.S companies into bait for to catch better terms from existing trade partners.
“And what to expect from the Obama Administration?” asked John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. “A focus on expanding regulations, getting the government of Cuba to authorize initiatives, and negotiating a settlement of the certified claims.”
Kavulich focused on that basic tension – between the strategically slow Cuban government and the excitement of American business as trade barriers begin to fall – in remarks he delivered to members of World Trade Center Delaware this week. He delivered a message of “sobering encouragement” to Delaware businesses – balancing the allure of new markets with sizeable challenges that remain.
“There are export opportunities for United States companies, but they are hostage to politics, logistics, and ability to pay,” Kavulich said.
Kavulich noted that trade with Cuba already exists in Delaware, a result of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in October 2000, reauthorized the direct export of food products and agricultural commodities from the United States to Cuba.
“I remember in 2007 when Millsboro-based Mountaire Farms reported its exports of frozen poultry to Cuba,” Kavulich said. “And Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and Maryland-based Perdue Farms, which have exported frozen poultry to Cuba, each have operations in Delaware.”
But corn exports, for one, face a challenge from government-provided and guaranteed exports from countries including Argentina and Brazil.
Still, Delaware’s size may be an advantage in negotiations. The first agreements for agricultural machinery to be exported to Cuba from the United States were not made by large corporations, but by small family-owned businesses.
“I read that approximately 80 percent of exports from Delaware originate through small and medium-sized businesses,” Kavulich said. “So it is important to know that the first export of a piece of agricultural machinery to Cuba was sold not by Case or New Holland, but from a family-owned company in Alabama.”
And while Kavlulich understands the desire to travel to Cuba on business – to drink “the Mojito at El Floridita where the writer Ernest Hemingway would sit on a stool” – he also advises business leaders to go with a specific plan and to research in advance what is, and is not, allowed in a quickly changing marketplace.
“You don’t need a consultant,” he said. “You probably don’t initially require legal services. But you should try to make certain that you know what the United States government authorizes you to do and what the government of Cuba authorizes you to do. There is often a tremendous distance between the two opportunities.”
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The World Trade Center Delaware is a private-sector, nonprofit organization helping Delaware companies to succeed in the international marketplace. With a primary focus on export promotion, the WTC Delaware develops programs to assist businesses and organizations including educational and networking events, market research, and consulting.
Media Contact:
Matt Sullivan, WTC communications (302) 354-3306, [email protected]