Vermont's Trade With Cuba in Holding Pattern
An article in today's Rutland (Vermont) Herald on Vermont's trade with Cuba demonstrates the competing forces in play with respect to sales to Cuba. On the one hand, Vermont officials are claiming that the state's trade with Cuba has decreased in the past year due to the Bush administration's cash-in-advance payment requirements for agricultural products. On the other hand, the article notes that the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council disputes Vermont's rationale for the declining exports, citing other reasons for the decline in exports, including Cuba's closer trade relations with Venezuela and China as well as Cuba's increased trade with Canada and South America.