When President Obama announced in April that the U.S. State Department would finally be taking Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism, it set in motion a sense of optimism that diplomatic relations and trade would soon go back to normal with the Caribbean island country.

Though Cuba did see a significant uptick in American tourists following the news, and U.S. airliner Jet Blue added Cuba to its flight routes, reopening of trade relations with the U.S. remains a prospect some worry is becoming less likely with every passing day.

What’s the hold-up with reopening trade?

Lifting the trade embargo on Cuba – put in place as a limited measure in October 1960, and imposed in full in February 1962 – requires the support of the Republican-controlled Congress. House Speaker John Boehner has already said he opposes the measure.

President Obama has the power to use executive authority to loosen trade restrictions, but has not yet moved on this point.

However, advocates of open U.S.-Cuba trade are concerned that if trade isn’t re-established between the two countries by the Obama administration, there’s a very real chance that come the next presidential election in 2016, the issue might be closed for years.

As it stands, there are several bills floating in Congress to re-open trade with Cuba. One such bill is sponsored by the independent Senator Angus King from Maine and Republican Senator Jerry Moran from Kansas.

However, two measures which aim to make travel to Cuba tougher have been tacked onto a new appropriations bill which will likely be passed.

Political issues still pose significant roadblocks

The U.S. is seeking to ensure that its diplomats will have freedom of movement throughout Cuba, and will not be detained by authorities. Cuba is pushing for the U.S. to back away from initiatives to push democracy within the island nation, as the government is concerned these undermine support for the regime.

The U.S. is also concerned that Cuba has continued to crack down and imprison dissidents; there had been some hope that removing Cuba from the terror sponsor list would encourage the Cuban regime to be less harsh on critics of the government.

On Cuba’s end, the continuing existence of Guantanamo Bay, located at the southeast end of Cuba, still irks the government there, as the military prison which houses suspected terrorists captured by the U.S. was not established with the consent of Havana.

But what seems to be irking U.S. politicians more than anything else is the perceived lack of reciprocity in goodwill gestures by the Cuban government.

The U.S. feels as if it’s doing the Caribbean nation a tremendous service in paving the way for normalization of relations, which has not been rewarded from the Cuban side.

For instance, the U.S. has also authorized ferries to travel to Cuba from Florida – but these ferries can’t sail until they receive Cuban clearance – which they have not thus far.

Use of American credit cards is also limited in this way. Though the U.S. government has authorized the use of these cards in Cuba, Americans visiting the country can’t use them as of yet, because Cuba’s government has not yet authorized this form of payment.

Possible $1.9 billion implication of US-Cuba trade

Should the U.S. and Cuba resume full trade regulations, economic prospects are rosy: the U.S. economy is expected to grow by US$1.9 billion and create up to 6,000 jobs in tourism and food exports, CEO Randy Shumway of Cicero Group, a financial PR and public affairs firm, wrote for Zions Bank.

Cuba has also made inroads to privatization, with an estimated 450,000 Cubans working in the private sector today (the country has a population of 11 million). The Mariel free trade zone includes a port, a Special Development Zone that will offer competitive customs and tax incentives, and a terminal, all with the aim of improving production and exports.

U.S. exports are also likely to increase, should trade ever get to the normalized stage. But not every business has benefited from this slight move towards trade with Cuba.

U.S. food exporters have seen sales drop by around nearly 50%; sales in the first quarter of 2014 were at US$160 million, but fell to US$83 million in the first quarter of 2015, Food Dive reported.

If nothing else, President Obama’s move towards normalizing relations with Cuba takes the stigma out of looking to Cuba for foreign investment.

Akerman LLP international lawyer Pedro Freyre told Bloomberg May 29,

Cuba will no longer carry the stigma associated with being designated as a ‘terrorist state,’ and this in and of itself lowers the perceived risk, and on a practical level, removes a number of regulatory barriers related to export, reporting, and compliance restrictions.

Do you think we will see normalized trade between these two nations in the near future? Will reopened trade between the nations be good for both countries?

The post Optimistic about US – Cuba Trade? Not so fast! appeared first on Trade Ready.

I first became interested in trade during my time at business school in the Netherlands. The experience opened my eyes to many of the non-tariff barriers that enterprises face in reaching export markets and how businesses from a “small country” can actively participate in international trade.

My time in the Netherlands inspired me to dedicate my career to promoting international trade.

The road to working in the UN system, and for the International Trade Centre specifically, was the result of a move from the private sector to employment with two national governments.

Although I enjoyed my employment experiences with both SMEs and larger enterprises, I have always been interested in what makes for a strong, domestic, “enabling environment” for businesses and how to effectively promote trade.

I therefore began my career in trade promotion with the Australian Trade Commission in 2007, and subsequently worked for the Canadian government in 2010.

The motivation to assist enterprises in developing economies

During my early work in trade promotion I witnessed the important connection between business success and the level of international trading activity of SMEs in developed countries (particularly in Canada, given its small domestic population and the likelihood of market saturation).

I realized that, in many cases, these   enterprises have significant advantages, including highly developed infrastructure, less ambiguous regulatory requirements, and established trade support institutions.

This realization motivated me to work on behalf of developing country sectors to increase their competitiveness, especially producers in WTO member states that are highly exposed to the exports of developed countries.

Trade promotion organizations play a vital part in trade development

Some developed countries are fortunate to have highly successful trade promotion organizations.

I believe Canada’s federal trade-bodies, Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), have benefited significantly from FITT’s role as a training partner.

Unlike purely academic programs, the FITT program gives students practical information on the different aspects of exporting (e.g. trade finance, marketing, etc.). Although trade theory is important, and forms most of the legal bases for the rules of trade, being able to navigate and comply with export requirements is an essential skill.

On the multilateral level, United Nations agencies like ITC are important to improving the capacity of developing country exporters to trade internationally. This led me to ITC.

The team at ITC responsible for value chain development, in both product and services sectors, has been actively compiling the needs expressed by project beneficiaries for over a decade.

A number of colleagues and I have been analysing this large body of qualitative information to gain better insight into what the most common needs are in different sectors and regions.

Using a content analysis methodology, we were able to quantify these needs, and we intend to publish our initial results on the ITC website in the coming months.

Understanding a complex development challenge

Throughout my career, I’ve realized that with both general and specific education comes another challenge: engaging with audiences that expect simple answers to complex problems. My thesis represents an extension of my work at ITC. I’ve always been interested in the role of technology and innovation for development.

In my thesis, I am examining the impact of donor programs for “appropriate technology” transfer. In particular, I am looking at the transfer of small-scale peanut processing technology to communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

In the 1970’s, SSA had approximately 90% of the global market share for peanuts. Today, this market share has fallen to about 5%. The fall in peanut exports can be partially attributed to developed country import bans on food contaminated with aflatoxin, a carcinogenic chemical produced by mould growth as a result of moisture and humidity. Some of the moisture related issues have to due with manual shelling activities.

Improved processing may enable these producer countries to reclaim some of their world market share, and also improve national public health.

I believe my thesis topic addresses an important area at the apex of technology, trade and development.

I intend to continue to work in my thesis area, agri-food sector development within the UN/WTO system, but also to expand my consulting business further. I’m also pursuing more “entrepreneurial activities” in the IT, clean tech, and agricultural technology spaces.

International trade is a field of continuous learning

One of the biggest challenges in my career has been the continuous learning required to understand the multifaceted nature of international trade. After completing the course-based Master of International Trade from the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan, I continued to work.

Even after completing a Master’s, I wanted to explore a specific area in greater depth. This led me to pursue a second, thesis-based, master’s degree with a specialization in international development. Given the strength of the University of Saskatchewan in all disciplines related to agriculture, I applied to a thesis-based Master of Arts program.

Upon acceptance, I was offered a graduate fellowship with the faculty of Political Studies. The fellowship entailed completing research for the faculty, grading the work of undergraduates, and other responsibilities. I also won several graduate awards that will contribute toward funding my fieldwork.

Completing my first master’s degree, earning my CITP designation in 2013, and, more recently, receiving a graduate fellowship have been among my proudest achievements in my educational career.

The ‘VALUE’ of a designation

Being a CITP has given me practical knowledge and skills related to trade. I’ve heard people mention certifications in any field as “not adding any value” in helping them “sell themselves”.

In my opinion, the value of a professional designation lies not in the paper received as a means to “get a job”, but as a way that your knowledge can be recognized by fellow professionals.

That being said, it has been good to see the designation included in position advertisements with federal government agencies involved in trade and export development.

I have also had the opportunity to connect with other international trade professionals through the FITT community by being featured in an article on TradeReady.ca and participating as a panellist in #TradeElite Twitter chats.

I am excited to continue to be active in the FITT community, participating in Twitter chats, as either a host or panelist, and look forward to networking with my fellow professionals in the future.

The post How I am leveraging my education and experience for trade impact appeared first on Trade Ready.