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Cuban
trade no sure bet for Idaho goods
By The
Times-News editorial board. AG Weekly,
May 16, 2007.
Gov. Butch Otter is taking the unconventional
route in his first trade mission as chief
executive of Idaho, by setting his sights
on Cuba.
For Otter to head into the lair of Presidente
Fidel Castro, however, is hardly a surprise.
The only question is what's it really worth
for Idaho?
In order for Idaho to begin trade ties
with Cuba, Otter must first gain clearance
from the U.S. State Department. Cuba has
been under a U.S. trade and travel embargo
for more than 40 years. That approval could
come as early as this week. Otter is hoping
to make a trade trip to the nation in the
next month.
But Otter and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig established
their diplomatic ties with Castro and Cuba
four years ago, to the disdain of President
George W. Bush. Since then, Otter campaigned
and was elected to governor on a platform
that included stronger foreign trade in
Idaho's economy. Otter also served a record
14 years as lieutenant governor with duties
largely linked to economic development and
trade.
Otter's initial trips to Cuba did bear
some successful fruit. Last year, Idaho
exported $22,613 of frozen foods into that
communist country. That's only a drop in
the bucket in the foreign trade game. Idaho's
largest foreign trade partner is China,
which purchased $731.5 million worth of
Idaho commodities. Canada was second with
$561.3 million.
Obviously, the consumers of Cuba don't
have that much money to throw around. But
for Otter, bulking up trade ties represents
a sort of new Cuban revolution. In a 2003
meeting with the Times-News editorial board,
then-Congressman Otter called the U.S. trade
embargo an impediment to America's weapon
of capitalism.
"If we wanted to bomb Cuba,"
he said. "We'd better off dropping
Sears Roebuck catalogs out of the back of
a plane."
Perhaps that's the real ambition within
this kind of trade mission - to blaze a
new path for free enterprise, not just spin
potential profits for Idaho.
"I think it's a little bit of both,
but obviously he wants to open up markets
to Idaho products into that communist country,"
said Otter spokesman Jon Hanian. "It's
limited, and it's very tightly controlled.
Primarily we're looking at agricultural
goods, timber products, and medical supplies
- anything from bandages to generic drugs."
Pushing for Cuban trade won't endear Otter
to some arch-conservatives, but it sounds
like a reasonable move on political principle.
To make the connection a valuable one,
however, Otter has to show that Idaho will
gain economic benefit. Ag groups may be
doubtful about those benefits, considering
how Cuba may want to dump sugar into American
markets at sugar-beet producers' expense.
And if Cuba does open up in future years,
it could be host to American companies wanting
a location to cheap labor.
Otter has the right idea by reinforcing
the vitality of Idaho goods on a global
scale. But with Cuba's limited buying power,
the governor's mission seems more like a
seed plan for the future.
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