Establishing a more normal economic relationship with Cuba has the potential to foster additional growth in U.S.-Cuba agricultural trade. With the loosening of the U.S. trade embargo in 2000 to allow for sales of agricultural products and medicine, the United States soon became Cuba’s leading foreign supplier of food and agricultural products, but prohibitions on issuing credit continue to limit U.S. potential in this market.
Cuba’s total agricultural imports have been trending upward over the past decade, reaching an average of $1.8 billion per year during 2012-14. The United States was Cuba’s second leading supplier of agricultural imports during this period ($365 million), while the European Union ($383 million) and Brazil ($348 million) were Cuba’s first and third leading suppliers.
Together, these 3 trade partners supplied 61 percent of Cuba’s agricultural imports, with the U.S. share equaling 20 percent. From 2003 to 2012, the United States was Cuba’s leading supplier of agricultural imports, but it slipped to second in 2013 and third in 2014.
Source:usda.gov