PENNSYLVANIA Talking trade with Cuba

Pennsylvania would be the first Northeastern state to sign a pact with Cuba.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Pennsylvania farmers could soon be exporting apples, eggs and livestock feed to Cuba after state officials travel to the island nation for trade negotiations next week.
Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff will lead the 18-member delegation, which will include the heads of nine Pennsylvania companies and representatives from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, where the goods would be shipped from.
During the five-day trip, state leaders expect to sign a nonbinding joint understanding that says Cuba is willing to import $10 million worth of Pennsylvania goods. But officials cautioned that the figure, a standard number Cuba includes in such agreements, has little meaning.
Wolff and others said they couldn't predict how much trade with Cuba could be worth. Wolff said trade missions typically return "millions of dollars to Pennsylvania producers."
"The sky is the limit," said Pamela Ann Martin, president of Molimar Export Consultants, who helped set up the trip. "We're looking to create a friendship and a long-lasting business relationship."
Range of companies
Wolff said he wasn't comfortable identifying the businesses making the trip, but said they range "from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to northeastern Pennsylvania."
"They represent everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to poultry and swine feeds, to frozen and refrigerated foods, to meat products, livestock and genetics," he said.
Limited agriculture trade with Cuba began in late 2001 after an exception to the four-decade U.S. trade embargo was passed in 2000. The law allows for the direct, commercial sales of American farm goods to Cuba on a cash basis.
Since then, goods from at least 34 states -- including Pennsylvania -- have flowed to Cuba, but only about 10 states or ports -- mostly in the South -- have signed agreements, said John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.
Pennsylvania would be the first Northeastern state to sign such an agreement, Kavulich said.
Billions in goods
Some $460 billion worth of agriculture have been exported to Cuba since 2001, he said.
Kavulich said Cuba is trying to change U.S. policy through trade. President Bush has said he won't lift the general trade or travel embargo on Cuba.
One of the clauses in the joint understanding Wolff is to sign says that Pennsylvania will work with its congressional delegation "to open up trade and travel with Cuba."
Wolff said he feels "very comfortable" with the agreement. He said it "basically promotes a broader understanding of the value of trading with Cuba."
"Those restrictions were put in place in 1962 and I can't see that Cuba represents a threat to the United States," he said.
Also during the trip, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Cuban maritime agency, said Sean Mahoney, the port's director of marketing.
"We see a great potential there," he said. "There's 12 [million] or 13 million people who have to eat."
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