Related videos:
Rice producers from the southern United States claim they could supply Cuba within weeks if the existing trade restrictions were lifted.
According to a recent edition published by Financial Times, rice producers in the United States believe that the potential opening of the Cuban market would be a "major boost" for farmers in the southern part of the country.
The USA Rice Federation has classified access to the Cuban market as a "high priority" for the industry and has been urging lawmakers from both parties for years to remove the barriers that hinder this trade.
States like Arkansas and Louisiana, leading producers of long-grain rice, are just a few days of navigation away from Cuban ports, which would significantly reduce transportation costs compared to the Asian suppliers that currently dominate the island's imports.
The industry estimates that Cuba could purchase up to 400,000 metric tons of rice per year if the regulations were relaxed.
After a partial opening of the embargo in 2000, U.S. rice exports to Cuba increased from zero in 2001 to 176,632 metric tons in 2004, before financial restrictions once again hindered growth.
U.S. law allows agricultural exports to Cuba but requires advance cash payment through banks in third countries, a condition that increases costs and complicates transactions. The industry wants to eliminate that requirement.
The situation in Cuba could not be more urgent. Cuban rice production fell from 304,000 tons in 2018 to about 111,000 in 2025, and in 2024 the harvest was estimated at only 80,000 tons compared to a demand of 600,000.
In 2023, Cuba imported 484,222 tons of rice out of a total available of 511,584, highlighting an almost complete dependence on foreign sources to meet the basic consumption needs of the population.
The price of rice in the informal Cuban market exceeded 400 pesos per pound in 2026, and 33.9% of households reported that at least one member went to bed without eating during the past year.
In light of the productive collapse, the regime has turned to external donations. In May, China sent 15,000 tons of rice to Cuba as part of a total commitment of 90,000 tons for this year, and in January a similar shipment had arrived. Cuba currently imports most of its rice from Vietnam and South American suppliers.
The energy crisis exacerbates the situation: the reduction in the supply of Venezuelan fuel has halted agricultural machinery and disrupted essential services, according to the World Food Programme.
Díaz-Canel's promises regarding rice production clash with the actual figures, which reveal a sustained decline that no official statement has been able to reverse.
Before the 1959 Revolution, Cuba was the largest foreign market for U.S. long-grain rice. Seven decades of communist dictatorship turned that natural market into a lost opportunity that today, with the island on the brink of a food crisis, is once again on the table in Washington.
The total agricultural import market of Cuba is estimated at around 2 billion dollars annually, highlighting the potential that the U.S. industry sees in a possible trade normalization.
Filed under: