APP GRATIS

Paradoxes of the "blockade": Cuba doubles food imports from the US in March

The notable increase in imports of food and agricultural products reflects Cuba's growing dependence on US products and informs the flexibility of the US embargo.

Azúcar y carne de res importada por Mipymes desde EE.UU. © Facebook / Mipyme Cuba
Sugar and beef imported by MSMEs from the US. Photo © Facebook / Mipyme Cuba

Imports of food products and agricultural from the United States to Cuba in March 2024 reached 40,624,058 dollars, a significant increase compared to the $20,475,934 imported in March 2023 and the $25,929,536 imported in March 2022.

This notable doubling in imports of food and agricultural products reflects Cuba's growing dependence on US products and informs about the flexibility of the US embargo, which the Havana regime continues to blame for the economic crisis and use for propaganda purposes in campaigns that They call for the "lifting of the blockade."

United States-Cuba Economic and Trade Council (translation CyberCuba)

According to data from Agriculture department, among the products imported in March 2024 are items such as yogurt, eggs, apples, spices, white wheat, rice, corn, olive oil, palm oil, herring, beet sugar, artificial honey, cookies, beer, salt , shampoo, toothpaste, soap, tires, machinery and vehicles, with a total value of $6,276,798.

Of the first ten food products imported in March, the Cuban regime allocated $29,276,154 to the purchase of chicken and meat derivatives, almost 10 million more than those allocated to this line in February.

The March figure is lower than that of January, when the government of the "continuity" of Miguel Diaz-Canel spent the record figure of $33,012,358 dollars in the import of just over 30 thousand tons of chicken meat.

As he remembers United States-Cuba Economic and Trade Council, these figures are framed in the context of exports permitted under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act (TSREEA) of 2000 and the Cuban Democracy Act (CDA) of 1992.

The TSREEA authorizes the direct export of food and agricultural products from the United States to Cuba (through cash payment), while the CDA regulates the export of health products.

Total exports under the TSREEA from January to March 2024 amounted to $112,997,719, a considerable increase compared to the $77,462,731 exported in the same period in 2023. Since December 2001, exports under the TSREEA and the CDA have exceeded 7,359,331,112 dollars.

In addition to food, exports in March 2024 included machinery and mechanical appliances, direct current generators, generator sets, household electrical appliances, radar equipment, shipping containers, motor vehicles and more.

For example, Cuba imported machinery to mix mineral substances for $32,304 and generating sets for $64,200. Other imported products included crushing, grinding, screening, sieving and emulsifying machinery for $74,160, direct current generators for $26,216, and electric stoves, cookers and ovens for $3,594.

Among the most expensive products imported by Cuba in March 2024 are used vehicles with spark ignition engines of 1,500 to 3,000 cc for $5,212,214 and used vehicles with spark ignition engines of more than 3,000 cc for $205,532.

For their part, imports of machinery and vehicles amounted to a total of 6,276,798 dollars. According to the Cuba-US Economic and Trade Council, in the first month of the year purchases of used vehicles in the US by people residing on the island also increased. The values totaled $3,071,000. In 2023, The United States exported almost 10 million dollars in cars to Cuba.

Last year United States food exports to Cuba increased by 4.2 percent, with a total of 301,727,842 dollars. That year also drew attention to the increase in coffee imports from the US, which reached the historic figure of 5.4 million dollars.

Humanitarian donations from the US to Cuba also rose to $36,563,551 in 2023; compared to $30,083,306.00 in 2022.

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